SIMON JORDAN: Bluntly, I didn’t think Eddie Howe had the chops for Newcastle… but he’s created a tidal wave of euphoria at St James’ Park

It's not my natural inclination to wax lyrical about managers as they are often chairman of their own fan base, but you have to give as much credit as possible to the work Eddie Howe is doing at Newcastle.

My first reaction was that it was not an obvious match. He was Newcastle's second choice after Unai Emery and had walked away from the Celtic job because I felt at the time he didn't have the courage to do it. I didn't have high expectations for him and, to put it bluntly, I didn't think he had the qualities to be Newcastle manager.

But he is doing a remarkable job and I don't believe there is anyone in English football who would do a better job than Howe at Newcastle at the moment.

Not just because he has bought well and stimulated the spirit of the club. Not just because the playing style is something you want to look at. Not just because if they have adversity with a shortage of players, they can overcome it. Not just because they don't cry and criticize when bad decisions are made against them. Not because they constantly use bad luck as an excuse for bad results. It is because of all those things that it gives him a breath of fresh air.

And what all these things tell you is that this man has character. He's nobody's fool and a man of substance, but I admit I didn't think that substance was as important as it turns out to be. He's the perfect person, in the perfect job at the perfect time. But you still need to achieve successful results.

He turned them around overnight – from the darkness of Mike Ashley's perceived wretched regime to this utterly transformed club – and I don't see anywhere that he's made a misstep.

Of course you can point to the financial power of Newcastle's owners and human rights issues to try to diminish what Howe has achieved. But that's unfair.

Firstly, Newcastle are only spending what most top six clubs spend, and secondly, it is unreasonable to expect Howe to offer any insight into the owners' moral compass, values, motivations and ambitions.

The CEOs and the chairman should answer these types of questions instead of the manager; he is not equipped to do so. Just as Pep Guardiola is not equipped to discuss Financial Fair Play obligations that Manchester City may or may not have met.

Perhaps Howe should have developed slightly better tactics when confronted with such questions, but I don't blame him for sidestepping them because he has nothing to add. And he certainly can't add his two pin north in any form because it will be used against him and his relationship with his owners.

Is there a right or wrong answer that Howe can offer, given that to give the right answer he must defame the property? So I'm not entirely sure that Howe's responsibility in life is to adopt moral principles, as our own government doesn't do that when it comes to the same people who own Newcastle.

Howe's focus is and should be on football and there is euphoria at Newcastle at the moment. They are riding on a groundswell of energy and enthusiasm and are determined to achieve something because, unlike the historic clubs, they do not yet have the deep-seated right and belief that they should do what they do.

Howe is a very sensible, well-rounded and balanced individual who has probably benefited more from his time as Bournemouth manager than anyone from a more privileged or esteemed football background. That will stand him in good stead and if you are a Newcastle fan you can only be proud of what this team is doing.

His post-match interviews are thorough, sensible and based on constructive observations. There are no exaggerations, no unnecessary superlatives and he is not overly emotional. He doesn't get carried away by winning, or despondent by losing. He is not overly effusive about his players, but gives the right amount of praise and his players have a message. That in itself is the art of management.

His players are absolutely on it, up and over it. The Anthony Gordons of the world, who I thought was a bit ahead of himself, is now turning into a player you would have on most teams. Joelinton and so many others look like different players.

They are getting better and improving at every position. Without trying to say too much, there is very little that is not positive. Everything you saw from Howe's team on Saturday as they so impressively defeated Manchester United was the opposite of what you got from their opponents.

You look at this Newcastle team and their performance against PSG, their approach to the Champions League, their performance in the Premier League, the culture of the club and the direction of travel and a significant part of that is down to the stable, solid, clear inspiring leadership from Howe.

I now see a manager on a trajectory that only goes up. I still believe that just like when Martin Luther King said we will get to the promised land but I may not be there when you get there, Howe may not be the ultimate beneficiary of all the good work he has done done. That's not a criticism of Howe or my attempt to denigrate him, but the level of expectation will change and the level of ambition will increase.

Unless you start winning leagues, cups and European trophies, while he may be a very important part of Newcastle's journey to greatness, I'm not sure he will be there to enjoy those successes. Newcastle are building an underlying culture where they will operate in the realm of expectation to win – and win big.

That change will come and there will come a time when they will think like that. That is the critical point. Howe has lived through every gear change and been right about every gear change, but the specter of the enormous financial power the owners can unleash is always there in the background.

If they really want to dominate – as I suspect they do, what was the point of buying the club – then I fear Howe could become a casualty as they march towards that goal.

As an Englishman who wants to see an English manager succeed in the Premier League, I would be happy to be proven wrong. I hope he wins them the league, but that would be a significant tectonic shift.

Newcastle are becoming an irresistible force, but the immovable objects are the bigger, better, more established clubs and unless we see a major change with them, the holy grail could be avoiding Howe. Who knows, if that were the case, Toon's loss could be the national team's gain.

Marcus must lift the doom and gloom

If Gareth Southgate were to pick his England squad for the European Championship tomorrow, Marcus Rashford would not warrant inclusion.

He is part of a generation of Manchester United players who live off the legacy of those who have done things for the club in the past, but who are a pale imitation of previous sides and receive far more attention than is necessary.

Rashford's problem is that he has been put on a pedestal he doesn't deserve. He's not a world-class player, but he's judged by those standards. As we have seen with other players, we don't know what challenges he will face outside the game, but he must remember that this is the best time of his life. He plays for perhaps one of the biggest clubs in the world, but walks around with a look of impending doom.

He needs to pick himself up and improve his game if he wants to be on a plane to Germany.

New TV deal isn't great for fans

There's a lot of fuss about the Premier League TV deal and it's a great deal for Sky, but I'm not sure it's a great deal for the fans.

The broadcaster has more games for virtually the same price over four years rather than three, so I'm not sure why the Premier League is presenting this as some kind of increase.

If the cost implications for fans decrease as a result of this new deal, they will obviously benefit, but I would be surprised if that were the case. I am sure that the decision to agree on this deal, which will take effect when the new regulator takes office, is purely coincidental…