Mehrdad Ghodoussi’s Eddie Howe verdict after Newcastle United boss’ award nomination

When Eddie Howe replaced Steve Bruce as Newcastle United manager, the club were in the midst of a relegation battle which seemed likely to last all season. The Magpies had won only won game all season and only Norwich had a worse defensive record.

It took some time for the former Bournemouth manager to bring about the changes he wanted to see and the January transfer window certainly played its part. Since the new year, Newcastle have been one of the form teams in the division and an eight game unbeaten run, including six wins was enough to drag them well clear of relegation danger by the middle of March. Howe has now been recognised for the turnaround by a nomination for the Premier League's manager of the season award.

Newcastle director, Mehrdad Ghodoussi took to Twitter to congratulate Howe. He stated: "An (sic) so well deserved @nufc".

Howe is up against esteemed company for the award. Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are the front-runners, but Brentford's Thomas Frank and Patrick Vieira of Crystal Palace are also on the short-list after Frank steered Brentford to comfortable safety in their first season in the top-flight, whilst Vieira has overseen a rebuild of Palace after Roy Hodgson left at the end of last season.