Eddie Howe reveals best striker he’s ever worked with who’s scored 58 times this season while on £75-per-goal bonus

NEWCASTLE boss Eddie Howe has surprisingly named an ex-Bournemouth striker “one of the best I’ve ever worked with”.

The Toon boss, 46, earned three promotions across two spells with The Cherries between 2008 and 2020.

The first of those came in the 2010/11 campaign as Bournemouth earned automatic promotion to League One.

During that season, Brett Pitman scored 28 goals in all competitions and finished third in League One‘s top scorers chart behind Lee Hughes and Adam Le Fondre.

Now Howe has opened up about Pitman’s talent as a finisher, heaping huge praise on the Jersey-born forward.

Speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, Salford co-owner Gary Neville asked about how to successfully navigate League Two.

To which Howe responded: “What got us out of League Two was having a goalscorer.

“Brett Pitman, in terms of a finisher, was one of the best I’ve ever worked with, and we had a solid backline.

“If you have those two in that league, then I think you’re going to be successful.”

After Howe left for Burnley and Pitman went to Bristol City, the pair reunited at Bournemouth in 2012.

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They achieved promotion to the Championship, before Pitman left as Howe went on to guide the club to the top flight.

Pitman subsequently played for Ipswich, Portsmouth, Swindon, Bristol Rovers and Eastleigh.

Now 36, he plies his trade in non-league for Shaftesbury and has scored an astonishing 58 goals this season.

One of those came in the Wessex League play-off final last month as he inspired his side to promotion to the Southern League.

He also bagged SEVEN in one game back in January – a performance that left Shaftesbury “skint” as he had signed a £75 goal bonus – meaning he racked up £525 on top of his regular wage.

In total, he scored 48.7 per cent of his side’s league goals this season.