If Eddie Howe and Paul Mitchell are uneasy bedfellows, as current reports would have you believe, then there is a desire to portray them as Bert and Ernie.
Howe, naturally, is Ernie: the cheery, grinning, lovable little scamp. Mitchell, of course, is therefore Bert: the frowning sourpuss who is unable to appreciate what he has in his ol’ rubber-ducky loving cohort.
The difference is that you know that Bert actually does like Ernie, under it all. Mitchell, though, gives off the vibe of someone who would rather see an end to the uneasy double act – however much, true to form, Howernie might look to put a positive face on the whole thing.
For the moment, things appear to be in a state of detente; if Newcastle were determined to show Howe the door, they would surely have done so already. The question is how much time he will continue to get.
There are many things to admire about Howe, let’s be clear. His achievements with getting Bournemouth promoted and keeping them in the top flight for an extended spell earned him the right to call himself a top-level manager, while he succeeded in guiding Newcastle to the heady heights of Champions League football that they had not experienced for two decades.
Howe also has plenty of allies in the national media, particularly as he is currently the best-placed Englishman to achieve upwards mobility in the Premier League with Sean Dyche’s Everton and Gary O’Neil’s Wolves both facing issues of their own (and on very different scales) away from the training pitch further down the division.
More importantly, he is also popular with a lot of Newcastle United fans. Neither should be a consideration, really, but inevitably will be on some level; the PR hit from getting rid of Howe unless he gives them very good reason to do so would be fierce.