‘Absolutely fantastic’ - Jamie Carragher raves over Eddie Howe’s impact at Newcastle United

After defeating Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, Newcastle United ended the weekend in fourth place having taken 21 points from their opening 12 games. It’s a far cry from their position in the league a year ago where they languished in 19th place.

Eddie Howe was the man tasked with turning the ship on Tyneside and in just 12 months, he has turned the Magpies from relegation fodder to European hopefuls. Much has been made about the money Newcastle have spent in the two transfer windows since Howe’s appointment, however, as Jamie Carragher noted on Monday Night Football, it is the transformation of the squad as a whole that should be the focus of praise for Newcastle.

Carragher said: "The first thing I want to say is when I look at the Premier League, I look at that Newcastle team and I'm not trying to knock the players, but they're good Premier League players. It almost feels like the collective is better than the individuals.

"I think Eddie Howe, maybe alongside Marco Silva, is getting as much from his team as any other manager in the Premier League. I really do believe that - I think it's a fantastic coaching job that he's done."

When pressed on which players have impressed the most, there was of course only one man to highlight. Bruno Guimaraes, who admitted he had two sleepless nights ahead of the Spurs game following the birth of his son Matteo, has been in sensational form for the Magpies and Carragher was quick to highlight the Brazilian’s impact.

"I think the one standout is Bruno Guimaraes.” Caragher said. “We highlighted him last week, he looks like a star who could go play for one of the teams we associate with playing Champions League football. But the other players, a lot of them were brought in to keep them in the league.

"When I actually look at the players on the pitch, yes they spent a lot of money in January and the summer, but there are still players I wouldn't class as superstars who would naturally go into other teams. So I think the coaching job Eddie Howe has done has been absolutely fantastic.”