Fans of Newcastle United have had a dream October, well off the pitch anyway. That first win of the season is still yet to happen. However, Mike Ashley is no longer owner and Steve Bruce has left the club. Now United are searching for a new manager and it’s a decision the new owners can’t get wrong. But who will it be?
Whoever becomes the new boss has one heck of a job on their hands. Newcastle are 18th in the Premier League and with just three draws in their eight games. They struggle at the back and have conceded 19 goals, more than any other team in the Premier League, even bottom-of-the-table Norwich City.
With a tough fixture list before they can start spending all their millions, United need someone who can dig this team out of trouble first. The new owners didn’t buy the club so they could play in the Championship. With so much at stake, this is not a time to appoint someone like Sam Allardyce. He’s 100/1 at Paddy Power if you do fancy a bet on him.
The current odds seem to indicate that Paulo Fonseca is the man who will be given the job. The former Porto, Braga, Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma boss nearly took over at Tottenham during the summer.
During his playing career in Portugal, he was a defender. If appointed, he might have a few shocks on the way when seeing Newcastle’s defensive abilities, or lack of them. Tax issues stopped him joining Tottenham, have they been sorted out now? He’s 1/2 at William Hill but do United need someone who has never managed in the Premier League?
SkyBet will give you 6/1 on Lucien Favre taking over. His last job was with Borussia Dortmund but like Fonseca, has never managed in the Premier League. Eddie Howe has though and he’s 7/1 at Unibet. He’s not managed a club since leaving Bournemouth and would be reunited with Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser.
Former Everton boss Roberto Martinez can be backed at odds of 10/1 at William Hill. Currently in charge of Belgium, he’s rumoured to be wanting to return to being a club manager. Frank Lampard has had two managerial jobs to date and didn’t do too bad at Derby and Chelsea. Betfair will give you 14/1 on him joining Newcastle.
Steven Gerrard is 16/1 at BetVictor but would he leave Rangers? He seems nailed on to be the next Liverpool manager, so a move to Newcastle is unlikely. Brendan Rodgers would be a good choice but he’s 33/1 at Paddy Power.
If the takeover had happened in the summer, then Rafael Benitez might have been appointed already. Could he turn his back on Everton and return to Newcastle? He’s 33/1 at Parimatch to do that.
Outsiders include Sir Alex Ferguson who is 250/1 at SkyBet, are they being serious? They also offer 150/1 on Hansi Flick. Just imagine Herr Flick saying Allo Allo to Newcastle! Stranger things have happened, after all, who’d have imagined Newcastle with millions to spend!
