Harry Redknapp compared reported Newcastle target Anthony Hudson to Mourinho

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Could Newcastle United really hand Anthony Hudson his first Premier League job to replace Rafa Benitez?

Who on earth is Anthony Hudson?

That is the question on the lips of Newcastle United fans up and down the country this week, with TEAMtalk claiming that a little-known 38-year-old is being considered as Rafa Benitez’s replacement at St James’ Park.

Unlike Benitez, who arrived on Tyneside as one of the most established and illustrious coaches in the game, Hudson has enjoyed a rather unorthodox career to date.

For a start, he hasn’t coached in Britain since a short spell at Newport County in 2011. In the last eight years, he has led the national teams of Bahrain and New Zealand, guiding the latter into the 2017 Confederations Cup, before embarking on an ill-fated spell in charge of MLS outfit Colorado Rapids.

He won just eight out of 46 games in the US. So this is not exactly the most glittering CV in world football.

Clearly, Harry Redknapp’s assertion that Hudson was something of a Seattle-born Jose Mourinho hasn’t quite come to pass.

“On my last day (at Tottenham in 2010) I went to thank Harry for all he’s done in my time there,” Hudson told the BBC when reminiscing about his time in charge of Spurs’ reserve side.

“And Harry said to everyone in the office out loud ‘see that lad, he’s going to be the new Mourinho’ and I just started laughing.

“It’s funny. Mourinho is an absolute legend and as a young coach and a young manager, there’s so many people I’m trying to learn from. But I’ve got to be me. I can’t try and copy anyone or be anyone. I’m comfortable with that.”

In another twist that will pique the interest of Newcastle supporters, TEAMtalk claimed in May 2018 that Hudson was part of a four-man shortlist to replace Chris Coleman at crisis-club Sunderland – Newcastle’s near neighbours.

So, a Sunderland-linked, mini-Mourinho with international experience who failed to taste the American dream; this would be the left-field appointment to end all others.