Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe haunted by manager of the month 'curse' – again

It’s not something that can be explained

The Magpies boss was named the Premier League’s Manager of the Month for February following a run of three wins and a draw.

Newcastle continued their good form into March with wins over Brighton and Southampton. But once Howe was confirmed as Manager of the Month on March 11, United’s nine game unbeaten run came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at Chelsea.

This was then followed up by a 1-0 loss at Everton and a 5-1 thrashing at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday to make it three straight defeats for Howe and Newcastle following the Manager of the Month win.

And it's not the first time Howe has seen his side suffer a drop off in form after picking up the accolade. The 44-year-old is the youngest manager in Premier League history to have won the Manager of the Month award on four different occasions.

Howe’s first top flight Manager of the Month win came in March 2017 following a run of two wins and a draw.

But once Howe was named Manager of the Month, The Cherries went on a four game winless run with two draws and two defeats.

Two wins and two draws in January 2018 saw Howe win the award for the second time but once again Bournemouth’s form suffered on the back of it as they won just one of their next 10 games.

Howe was awarded his third and final manager of the month award with Bournemouth in October 2018 after picking up three wins and a draw during the month.

Four straight defeats followed as Howe achieved the unwanted accolade of going from Manager of the Month to picking up zero points the next month as Bournemouth won just two of their next 11 Premier League matches.

With eight games remaining, Newcastle are still nine points clear of the bottom three. There is breathing room there and three consecutive matches at St James’s Park will be welcome following a run of four straight away matches.

But in order to avoid another relegation scare, this ‘curse’ needs to be lifted soon.

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