Eddie Howe robbed - Tuesday night announcement leaves Toon fans baffled

Eddie Howe has been robbed of the Premier League Manager of the Season award as it was announced on Tuesday night that Pep Guardiola has pipped him to the prize.

While the Spanish head coach has had an impressive season and could be on to win a treble, they were second best to Arsenal for the majority of the season, with a late collapse from the Gunners opening the door.

Considering he has also added Erling Haaland to what was already a title winning squad, it makes a mockery of the award to ignore those who’ve punched well above their weight.

There are a number of managers who could have come before him - Howe, Frank, Arteta, De Zerbi, O’Neil - who have all over performed with the resources they were given.

But Howe’s case in particular Is a strong one - taking a team who looked destined for relegation to the Champions League in just 18 months is no easy feat, and he has done so with a number of players who were already here pre-takeover.

No side lost less than us. No side conceded less than us. Not to mention all those Howe has improved, such as Schar, Longstaff, Joelinton and Almiron. Over 50% of our starting XI fighting in a relegation battle last year, making our achievement incredible and silencing those who claim we’ve bought our way to success.

It begs the question what more do the Premier League want Howe to have done in order to win the award? There is surely no other manager who has defied the odds like he has.