After Saudi Arabia's PIF's £300m takeover of Newcastle United, Eddie Howe has been rumoured to replace Steve Bruce as the Magpies manager after their 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday
It's been a poor start to the season for Bruce and Newcastle, with the Toon currently sitting 19th in the Premier League table after zero wins in their first eight games.
Howe has been unemployed since his departure from Bournemouth in 2020 following the Cherries' relegation from the Premier League. Howe spent 11 years as Bournemouth manager over two spells - his second spell consisting of eight years, where he led the Cherries from League One to the Premier League in just three years.
Howe has been linked with the job along with a handful of other managers including Lucien Favre, Roberto Martinez, Antonio Conte and Steven Gerrard, but due to Newcastle's current circumstances, Howe could be a great candidate for the job given his current situation and Premier League experience.
So, if Bruce was to be sacked and Howe was to be appointed in his place, what would the outcome be?
To have a look, we simulated the remainder of this season and the entirety of the next in Football Manager 2021 with Howe in charge of Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe's first two seasons as Newcastle United manager simulated
To set up this simulation, we arranged for Howe to replace Steve Bruce at Newcastle United after eight Premier League games and simulated until the end of the 2022/23 season to see how the 42-year-old manager performed.
We also edited the Football Manager 2021 game save file to update all transfers as of October 15, 2021. We also removed Mike Ashley as the club's owner, replaced him with the new ownership structure and made a number of changes, including setting the new owners as Sugar Daddy (foreground), which means they will back the club in the transfer market and increasing the club's reputation, allowing them to attract more high-profile players and managers.
This is Howe's in-game profile on Football Manager 2021.
The English manager boasts an evenly-rounded profile on Football manager 2021, with his attacking and man management his best attributes.
Howe's preferred formation is the 4-2-3-1 formation, whilst his preferred tactics are route one.
So, where did Newcastle finish in both of Howe's seasons? Let's take a look.
Newcastle's 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons under Howe
Howe completed his first achievement as the Magpies boss as he led his new side to safety, finishing 15th in the league on 42 points to remain in the top-flight.
Howe spent big in his first summer transfer window at the club, spending £198m ahead of the 2022/23 season, predominantly focusing on improving the defence.
The Magpies spent a combined £100m on Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly and Southampton's James Ward-Prowse, with the latter costing £53m alone.
Howe invested in a midfield partner for Ward-Prowse, signing West Ham United's Declan Rice for £32m.
Sergino Dest was bought from Barcelona to fill the right-back position, whilst Arnaut Danjuma and Alessio Cragno were signed for squad depth.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2021 put together an overall best Newcastle XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics.
This is what the Magpies’ best XI looked like at the end of the 2022/23 season as predicted by Football Manager 2021.
Newcastle's best XI: Dubravka; Dest, Koulibaly, Lascelles, Lewis; Rice, Ward-Prowse; Willock, Almiron; Saint-Maximin; Wilson.
The Magpies' front line was identical to the past season, with the only attacking addition, Danjuma, failing to make the best XI after a torrid first season at the club where he registered zero goals or assists in 16 games.
In the 2022/23 season with Howe, there was a slight improvement in league position, with the Magpies finishing 12th in the league despite only accumulating three more points than the season prior.
Interestingly, their unchanged attacking line scored seven more goals than the 2021/22 season, but their new-look defence conceded seven more.
Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin finished as the club's joint top scorers with 11 goals each, whilst new signing Rice and Ryan Fraser were joint second with six goals.
Overall, Football Manager 2021 predicts that if Newcastle were to appoint Eddie Howe as their new manager to replace Steve Bruce, the Englishman will use his expertise in the bottom-half of the Premier League to keep the Magpies in the league.
However, despite spending nearly £200m in the summer, the manager seemed to reach his limitations in the second season, finishing 15th in the league with a similar point tally to the previous year.
Do you think Eddie Howe would be a good appointment at Newcastle United? Let us know in the comments below!
