‘I feel disrespected’: BBC pundit jokes he’s upset Eddie Howe hasn’t made him Newcastle coach yet

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Premier League winner and BBC pundit Micah Richards feels he played a massive part in helping Eddie Howe become the Newcastle United manager.

Howe replaced Steve Bruce at St James’ Park and the Magpies have looked a completely different side since. Newcastle have improved massively and the threat of relegation is now nowhere near as big as it was a few weeks ago.

After a fantastic run of form in recent weeks, Newcastle have climbed up the table and are currently 14th, four points ahead of 18th-place Burnley. It looks like they will survive now and Howe deserves a ton of credit.

Richards, who once worked as a pundit next to Howe on BBC Match Of The Day 2, believes his insight could be one of the reasons why Newcastle are doing so well.

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Micah Richards: I guided Eddie Howe to become Newcastle manager

Richards was joined by Mark Chapman, Chris Sutton and Rory Smith on The Monday Night Club on BBC 5 Live and the ex-Manchester City man joked that they got Howe the job at Newcastle.

He said: “We got him the job, didn’t we, on Match Of The Day 2.

“The analysis, I helped him with all his analysis.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t drafted me in as a coach, to be honest. I feel disrespected. I guided him.”

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Howe’s a contender for Manager of the Year award

When Steve Bruce was shown the door in November and Eddie Howe came in, Newcastle sat second-bottom in the table after three draws in their first eight games in the Premier League.

After just 13 games in charge, Howe has completely turned it around and the Magpies, who once looked destined to go down, are now the favourites among the relegation-threatened teams to survive in the Premier League.

There’s still a long way to go before the Premier League comes to an end this season and a lot can still change. However, if Howe manages to keep Newcastle where they are, he should be a contender for the Manager of the Year award alongside the likes of Pep Guardiola, Bruno Lage and Jurgen Klopp.

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