Craig Hope has revealed that the possibility of Roberto Martinez becoming the next manager at Newcastle United is now on the cards.
The Lowdown: Martinez interest
The journalist revealed earlier this month that the 48-year-old is ‘interested’ in taking on the manager’s role at St James’ Park, with Graeme Jones only given the job on an interim basis.
Should Newcastle hire Martinez?
Yes
No
Having lost 3-0 at home to Chelsea on Saturday, the Magpies need to bring in a permanent coach as soon as possible, or else they risk being cut adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table when funds are made available in the January transfer window.
The Latest: On the cards
According to Hope, Jones has ‘handled himself well’ and a reunion with Martinez, for whom he was an assistant to the Belgium national team, is now on the cards.
The Spaniard is currently ‘on the shortlist’ of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium and would cost ‘less than £2m’ in terms of getting him out of his contract.
The Daily Mail journalist also revealed that there are ‘more talks’ set to take place with candidates ‘next week’, including Martinez.
The Verdict: Avoid
Given that Newcastle currently find themselves in a relegation battle, Martinez is not suited to the job at this moment in time. He has experience of being involved in one during his days at Wigan Athletic, but he ended up taking the Latics down to the Championship in 2013.
Former Premier League manager Alex McLeish thinks that the 48-year-old is a ‘world class’ coach and there have been signs of that, winning the FA Cup with Wigan in the same season that they got relegated, and guiding Belgium to first place in the official FIFA World Rankings.
However, even looking at his potential appointment in the longer term, he has not won a major trophy with Belgium despite their ranking and world superstars such as Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard at his disposal. In the Premier League, he also recorded bottom-half finishes with Everton in his last two campaigns at Goodison Park (Transfermarkt).
The new owners at St James’ Park should be looking elsewhere for their statement first managerial appointment at the helm.
In other news, find out which Saudi-based manager is now ‘in the running’ for the Newcastle job
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