Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has cast doubt on whether former Magpies head coach Eddie Howe would accept the Manchester United job if it were offered to him.
Howe has emerged as an early favourite to succeed Michael Carrick at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils head coach under increasing pressure after a difficult start to the season. Carrick's side have won just twice in all competitions so far this term, and a 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday, following a 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League in midweek, has left the 45-year-old fighting for his job.
Howe's credentials and current situation
Should Manchester United make a change, Howe is said to be high in their thinking after his work at Newcastle. He is favourite with many bookmakers, with Betfair pricing him as short as 8/13.
Howe is out of work after leaving the Magpies in the summer following four-and-a-half years, during which he guided Newcastle to two cup finals, two Champions League campaigns, and ended their 70-year domestic trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup last year.
Shearer's concerns over control
However, Shearer believes the lack of control Howe would be afforded in all areas of the club would give the former Bournemouth boss major reservations about stepping into the Old Trafford dugout.
"I guess you don't have to be on the inside to think and know what's going on at Manchester United," Shearer told Betfair. "When you go through Rangnick and Eric ten Hag, Ruben Amorim, then you talk about the Dan Ashworth situation, you had Dave Brailsford and the compensation they paid Newcastle, then sacked him, their recruitment, arguing with ticket prices. There's so much going on there in terms of how it highlights the huge problems they've got."
Shearer added: "It's there for everyone to see. Everyone's looking at it. It's being played out in the open. You don't need an Eric ten Hag interview to know that there are huge problems at Manchester United."
Questions over the right fit
Discussing potential replacements, Shearer said: "Is Antonio Conte the answer? I don't know. My only thing would be this: it's not the coach's fault. There are huge issues at the football club. I don't know how desperate he is for a job."
He continued: "I guess looking at who's been in and how many managers and coaches they've hired and fired, I just wonder whether other managers would look at that and think, well, I know how huge you are, but maybe that's not the right job at the right time."
On Howe specifically, Shearer concluded: "Eddie Howe has also been linked, he wants control of things, and in a club that he sees that as his role and his issue. Whether he would get that at Manchester United or not, I don't know."
