England should go cap in hand to Newcastle for Eddie Howe as an alternative of ‘Timebomb Thomas’

You can see it coming a mile off.

A scenario as predictable as Rory McIlroy making hard work of closing out golf tournaments, or Real Madrid winning the Champions League. In 16 months time England will be looking for a new manager again.

Thomas Tuchel will have come and gone in a flash, having failed his job description of winning England the World Cup. And top of the FA’s wanted list will be Eddie Howe.

If Howe wasn’t on the FA’s radar when it came to replacing Gareth Southgate, then he certainly is now, and he appears to tick all the right boxes. He’s English, ambitious, cool under pressure, courteous and now a winner.

Leading Newcastle United to their first trophy in 56 years means he’s the man with the Midas touch. He can tiptoe across the Tyne without having to use the famous bridge.

And at some stage in the future, he should have a statue outside St James’ Park, as a permanent reminder of how he turned those Geordie dreams into reality. Sir Bobby Robson and Alan Shearer have statues – and they didn’t win anything on behalf of their hometown club. So Howe’s should be cast in stone.

And let’s be honest, no matter what happens between now and the summer of 2026, nothing will change when it comes to how high Howe’s stock now is.

So the chances are that, unless Tuchel somehow achieves the impossible and leads the Three Lions to ultimate glory, FA bosses will feel obliged to go cap in hand to the Saudis in a bid to strike a deal to lure Howe into the biggest job of all.

From ‘Timebomb Thomas’ to ‘Steady Eddie’ would be the sensible and logical option, and while Tuchel’s reign has only just begun, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham should be planning ahead now.

But Bullingham & Co should be careful not to get sucked into all the hype and hoopla now surrounding one of their own. The fact Howe has won something at domestic level should be a major plus, but it doesn’t work like that.

The last winning Englishman to be appointed was Roy Hodgson – and look how that turned out? Hodgson achieved the unthinkable of getting England knocked out of the 2014 World Cup with a group game to spare, before losing to Iceland in the last 16 of the following Euros two years later.

While the last Englishman to have won the League Cup and then go on to be appointed Three Lions boss was Steve McClaren, and he finished his stint in charge as the ‘Wally with a Brolly’.

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When the time comes, Bullingham should put his foot on the ball and take the same attitude he did when appointing Tuchel. Pick the right candidate, not the most popular one.

Howe deserves all the plaudits for what he’s achieved at Newcastle. He pulled Arne Slot’s pants down at Wembley and humbled the best team in the land.

But at the end of the day, and despite how much it means to Newcastle and the club’s terrific supporters, he’s won the League Cup. Yet ending Newcastle’s hoodoo doesn’t mean he’s the man to end England’s as well.

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