Paul Merson tells Newcastle to "be careful" with Eddie Howe

You'll probably be hard pressed to find a pundit who is likely to agree with the Howe Out argument, even in teh midst of this poor run of form by Newcastle United.

There are plenty of fans keen to make their voices heard when it comes to the future of the current Toon manager, but the reality is, the former Bournemouth boss still retains the backing of the majority of the fanbase, and crucially, of the board.

When it comes to journalists and pundits, they all see the bigger picture and still back Eddie Howe to turn things around at Newcastle, as long as he's given the time and the backing in the transfer window.

After a disastrous summer window, everyone is hoping for something better this year with a sporting director in place, but no matter how you look at it, last year's recruitment, which was spearheaded by Howe, wasn't good enough.

Paul Merson backs Eddie Howe again

Paul Merson, not for the first time lately, backed Eddie Howe on Sky Sports at full-time after the defeat to Arsenal.

While Merson acknowledges the missteps in recruitment, alongside other recent squad issues, he claims that if Howe were to leave Newcastle, he could walk into a job tomorrow, citing Chelsea, Man Utd and England.

"He won a trophy for the first time since I've been born. You've got the (Alexander) Isak situation, and he bought (Nick) Woltemade and (Yoane) Wissa, who haven't fulfilled or got anywhere near what they did at their clubs last season. 

"They have the best three about in midfield in my opinion, Bruno (Guimaraes), (Sandro) Tonali, and Joelinton, what a three. How many times have they played together in those 12 games? Probably none. You've got to take all that into consideration.

"I'm a big fan of Eddie Howe. If Eddie Howe leaves Newcastle, they'll be queuing up around the corner for him, so that tells you everything. Be careful, Newcastle.

"Chelsea would take him tomorrow morning. He could be the next England manager. Manchester United. Everyone would be queuing up to take Eddie Howe."

Howe won't be short on offers 

We can't really argue with Merson here. There have been plenty of excuses Eddie Howe could have used and been valid; he's never chosen to do that, but they are there. 

The fact that our first-choice trio of midfielders haven't played together during this shocking run of form says a lot about where we are right now. Just having Bruno Guimaraes back in the side made us look so much better on Saturday, and while it's great that he's back, that's also a huge worry because he won't be around forever.

As for Howe's employment chances if he were to leave Newcastle, he's not going to end up at Arsenal or Manchester City, but he won't be short on offers based on the job he's done here since 2021.