Stan Collymore has admitted he was wrong to write off Eddie Howe before he arrived at Newcastle United. Sceptics were quick to point out that the 44-year-old had suffered relegation at Bournemouth - with the Magpies sitting 19th in the Premier League at the time.
However, little fuss was made about the positives on Howe’s CV when the Saudi-backed regime appointed him last November. The Toon boss dragged Bournemouth from the fourth tier to the top flight and kept the Cherries there for five years during his 11 years at the helm.
One blemish on an otherwise flawless record - as well as a perceived liability to coach a defence - led some to suggest he was an uninformed choice. To say Howe has silenced those critics would be an understatement, with Newcastle flying high in the Premier League.
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A drastic turnaround last season saw the Magpies beat the drop by 14 points and the impressive form has continued into this season. Any fears about defensive fragilities have been obliterated - with Newcastle conceding fewer goals than any other side in 2022-23.
Former Liverpool striker Collymore was one of those doubters - but has confessed to changing his mind. He told The Mirror : "Hands up, I was wrong about Howe. I wasn’t sure he’d be able to make the step up to a bigger football club, particularly in a one-club city, after his last season at Bournemouth.
“I questioned the fact that, despite playing beautiful football under Howe, the Cherries shipped so many goals and why he never worked out how to stop it. He wasn’t pragmatic enough. Both he and his old club paid the price for that with relegation.
“But - and it’s a big but - he has taken to managing Newcastle like a duck to water. And while I’m still not fully on board with what Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are doing, I have to say I am with everything Howe and the Geordies are up to.
“Look, I haven’t changed my mind about the geopolitics of it all. But there’s an earthiness and authenticity about the team under Howe and, I have to say, he himself is really looking the part.”
The retired forward turned pundit also praised Newcastle’s recruitment since buying the club one year ago. Big-money signings have been complimented with proven top-flight sloggers to maintain a hard-working, English core on Tyneside.
Collymore added: “Given Newcastle’s wealth, it would have been very easy for Howe to go in thinking, ‘I have the budget to get players who can ape what Manchester City and, currently, Arsenal are doing’. But instead, he and the recruitment team went after proper pros such as Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier.
“And you only have to look at what he has done with Joelinton, in turning him from a forward to a midfielder, to realise he is showing the pragmatism I once thought he didn’t have. I always say the best managers make average players good, and good players very good, and I’m seeing that with Howe at Newcastle.”
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