Andoni Iraola's Newcastle United connections talked down by club sources

On Tuesday, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola announced that he'd be leaving the club at the end of the season, sparking inevitable discussion amongst Newcastle United fans. 

With Eddie Howe under pressure at Newcastle, the timing of the announcement and Newcastle's love of all things Bournemouth made this a very easy story to run with.

We had originally opted to just ignore it, as it was a pure case of people putting two and two together and coming up with toast. However, it has now apparently got to a point where sources inside the club have had to deny the claims.

It had been suggested that the reason Iraola had refused to sign a new contract at Bournemouth was that the Spanish boss already had his next role lined up - replacing Eddie Howe at Newcastle.

Iraola isn't Toon-bound just yet 

The Magpies love a Bournemouth cast-off, there's no doubt about it, but The Chronicle has reported today that sources within the club have denied any imminent link between Iraola's Cherries exit and the Newcastle job.

Eddie Howe still has the backing of the board. Whether that remains the case at the end of the season, only time will tell, but at least for now, nobody is making moves to replace him.

We're not saying that Iraola wouldn't be a good appointment for Newcastle, but is he really any better than Eddie Howe? His experience levels are around the same; he's not exactly proven at the Champions League level, whereas at least now, Howe has two years of experience in that competition. It seems like it would be a sidestep at best.

Bournemouth are next up for Newcastle

Perhaps more relevant to Newcastle is that Bournemouth are our next opponents as the Cherries come to St James' Park on Saturday.

Newcastle have found it hard to get results against Howe's old side of late, which is a huge problem when we absolutely need three points this weekend.

Hopefully, Bournemouth will be distracted by the Iraola news, and Newcastle can take advantage of that to snatch a much-needed three points. We honestly can't bear the idea of the meltdown if we lose again.