Jamie Carragher says who the 'most important person' is at Newcastle United amid Wolves victory
The Liverpool legend has given his take on the recent speculation surrounding Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell at Newcastle United.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has stressed just how important Eddie Howe is for Newcastle United in their attempts to become regular challengers at the top end of the Premier League table.
The former Bournemouth boss has overseen a remarkable transformation in fortunes during his three-year reign at St James Park after taking the Magpies from a Premier League relegation battle into the Champions League and helping the club reach their first major cup final appearance in almost a quarter of a century. Of course, many will rightly point to the significant financial backing Howe has received from the PIF-led owners that completed their prolonged takeover at St James Park just a month before his arrival. But Howe has also shown an ability to bring serious improvement out of several squad members with the likes of Fabian Schar, Joelinton and Jacob Murphy all undergoing remarkable transformations during his time in charge.
There have been recent rumblings of discontent between Howe and recently appointed sporting director Paul Mitchell after an underwhelming end to the summer transfer window - but Carragher believes there is only one man that should be viewed as ‘the most important person’ with the Magpies hierarchy.
Speaking before Sunday’s win against Wolves, the former England defender said: “There is obviously something going on up there between the sporting director and the manager - but for me, the biggest thing that could go wrong at Newcastle is losing Eddie Howe. Eddie Howe is the most important person at that football club, a lot more important than Paul Mitchell, who has only just arrived at the club. That’s something they have to iron out because they don’t want to lose that manager. He’s done a brilliant job since he’s come in, they’ve made a brilliant start to the season and you actually think if the start to the season hadn’t been so good, how much more of those questions would Eddie Howe have been answering because results put that type of talk away. If they get another result here it will be the same.”
Carragher also reserved praise for Magpies forward Alexander Isak, who was unable to build on the impressive form he showed during the international break with Sweden after being substituted at half-time with a facial injury. The former Real Sociedad star has scored 36 goals and provided six assists in 72 appearances since joining the Magpies and Carragher has described Isak as ‘a fantastic buy’ and insisted only Manchester City hot-shot Erling Haaland is a better striker in the Premier League.
“He’s brilliant and I think, behind Haaland, I think he’s the next centre forward I would want. I hope I haven’t missed anyone. But I think the teams in the league who push for the title, or maybe pushing for the Champions League, I think they’d all want him in their team. I think he’s a special player, he’s made another great start to the season and he’s been a fantastic buy for them.”