Former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe could make a return to management with Aston Villa if Dean Smith’s side stumble out of the blocks at the start of 2020/21, former Villans hero Stan Collymore tells the Mirror (4 August, page 47).
While one of the most promising young coaches in British football looks set to take a leaf out of Pep Guardiola’s book with a sabbatical in his sights, do not expect the 42-year-old to spend his time playing chess with Gary Kasparov in Central Park.
Collymore believes that Howe would benefit from spending the next few months recharging his batteries and ‘bending the ear’ of Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp and co as he looks to learn from a disastrous campaign which ended in relegation.
Bournemouth finished 18th in the table, their five-year spell in the top flight coming to an end as a result.
But, after dragging the Cherries from the bottom of League Two to the top division, Howe’s reputation is likely to survive his first major setback since that disastrous spell at Burnley almost a decade ago.
“Howe is going to find out that he becomes an even better manager now he’s out of the game,” Collymore says.
“I can see an Aston Villa, West Ham, Crystal Palace or even Leeds come knocking if they don’t have a good start.
“Howe needs to bend the ear of veterans such as Roy Hodgson, Harry Redknapp and David Moyes to see what he has done wrong.
“We know Howe wants to play football the right way and credit to him for that, but he clearly needs to pick their brains about setting up a team to be able to defend…and defend properly.”
Hodgson, the Premier League’s oldest boss, is far from secure in the Selhurst Park hot seat after a run of seven consecutive defeats to end the campaign, while doubts persist about the long-term future of David Moyes at West Ham.
It would surely take a fall of biblical proportions, however, for newly-promoted Leeds to wield the axe over the messianic figure of Marcelo Bielsa.
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