Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has labelled Chelsea's Mauricio Pochettino as an "outstanding manager" ahead of Saturday's Premier League encounter between the two clubs at St James' Park.
Pochettino took the reins at Chelsea in July and oversaw a major overhaul of the first-team squad in the summer, with in excess of £400m spent on new players.
The Argentine only won two of his opening seven games in charge, but he appears to have put his stamp on the Blues in recent months, guiding his side to five wins and two draws in their last eight matches across all competitions.
Chelsea admirably claimed four points in their last two fixtures against former Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur and reigning champions Manchester City before the international break, beating the former 4-1 before playing out a 4-4 draw with the latter.
Pochettino's side currently sit 10th in the top-flight table, four points behind Saturday's opponents Newcastle in seventh and 10 points adrift of Spurs in fourth, but Howe has seen enough signs in recent weeks to suggest that Chelsea have the right man at the helm to help fulfil their long-term targets.
© Reuters
"[Chelsea] have a great manager, someone who has been in the Premier League before and he can develop young players - full credit to him and the job he has been doing," Howe said at a press conference on Friday.
"I think [Pochettino] is a really good fit for Chelsea, and they are improving every week. We know it is going to be a real test.
"I think as much as you can look at that, they've scored eight goals in two games. OK, against Tottenham, it was well documented what happened in that game. But (they have scored) eight goals against Tottenham and Manchester City.
"I think we're seeing a team with outstanding players and an outstanding manager now beginning to gel and find their form.
"For us, of course we'll look at them, analyse their strengths and any areas where we could potentially hurt them, as we will with every opposition."
© Reuters
Howe is hoping that his Newcastle side can step up for the challenging encounter with Chelsea and build on their strong form at St James' Park.
The Magpies lost their final two matches away against Borussia Dortmund and Bournemouth before the international break, but they have won each of their last four home games without reply, including a 1-0 victory over Arsenal last time out.
"Our home form has been very strong; we have had some good results against some top sides," said Howe. "You look back at our last league game here against Arsenal, and it was a very strong performance, full of discipline and quality.
"Another performance and atmosphere like that would be more than welcome. There is a determination to put the Bournemouth result to bed."
Newcastle came out on top the last time that they welcomed Chelsea to St James' Park, beating the Blues 1-0 in November last year courtesy of a second-half strike from Joe Willock.
The Magpies are set to be without at least eight players this weekend through injury, but Howe has provided an update on quintet Alexander Isak, Fabian Schar, Miguel Almiron, Sean Longstaff and Kieran Trippier.
Oliver Thomas
