The impossible job? Upgrading manager proving no easy task for Newcastle owners
Twenty-eight days on from the club’s takeover, Newcastle United are still to make the managerial upgrade that was widely anticipated.
Steve Bruce was put out of his misery two weeks ago, yet the club’s new majority owners, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have not yet settled on a successor.
The wait illustrates the scale of the challenge facing those in charge at St James’ Park, and that challenge only grows with each passing day.
Newcastle’s search was dealt another blow yesterday when former Arsenal manager Unai Emery publicly ruled himself out of the running for the vacancy.
“I am grateful for the interest of a great club, but even more grateful to be here,” he said, reaffirming his commitment to Villarreal.
Emery, who has enjoyed success in his native Spain, was said to have become the preferred choice of Newcastle’s new hierarchy.
His rejection may turn out to be a bullet dodged, however, despite some serious revisionism since his 18-month stint at the Emirates Stadium.
Emery’s four Europa League titles is a remarkable achievement, and he seems a highly capable coach of medium-sized Spanish clubs.
When he has worked overseas, however, it hasn’t gone well, as fans of Spartak Moscow and Paris Saint-Germain as well as Arsenal can attest.
And while the prospect of him trying to master the Geordie dialect was a tantalising one, there would have been huge risk in throwing him into a relegation battle.
The same could be said about Eddie Howe, another candidate said to be near the top of Newcastle’s list.
Howe enjoyed eight mostly excellent years at Bournemouth in which he marked himself out as one of the more exciting young English managers.
Yet there is very little else on his limited CV to indicate one way or the other whether he would thrive at another Premier League club.
Throw in the intense scrutiny that comes with the Newcastle job – even more so now – and the minimal margin for error, and picking Howe starts to look reckless.
The problem with Newcastle manager search
Newcastle’s problem is that they need a manager who can serve both their short and long term needs, which are very different.
Right now, they need a manager who can be trusted to drag them out of the relegation zone and ensure their top-flight status, as a minimum.
But they also need someone who can lay the foundations for success in future years: the top half of the table next season, Europe the following one, and eventually challenging for trophies.
There aren’t many managers who fit that bill, and fewer still who would be ready to take this job now.
Roy Hodgson would be a sound bet to meet Newcastle’s short-term needs, but may not excite the Toon Army and, at 74, is hardly the man for a long-term project.
Nuno Espirito Santo was the kind of upwardly mobile manager to appeal just a few months ago. He now looks like damaged goods after his aborted spell at Tottenham Hotspur.
Ronald Koeman was the choice of Everton when they found themselves newly flush and dreaming of gatecrashing the elite.
A known quantity in the Premier League and with enough cachet to elevate Newcastle, they do worse than sound him out, despite his dream job at Barcelona turning sour.
Recruiting the right man is no easy task, especially for a board largely new to football – as Newcastle’s owners are finding.
Meanwhile the task awaiting the new man just gets steeper. One point from safety at the time of the takeover, the gap is now six points. The clock is ticking.