TOON AGREE DEAL TO MAKE HOWE NEW BOSS
EDDIE HOWE has agreed a two-and-ahalf-year deal in principle to become Newcastle’s head coach. The 43-year-old has been out of a job since leaving Bournemouth following their relegation from the Premier League two seasons ago. But after talks progressed yesterday, Howe is set to be confirmed as the first managerial appointment of Newcastle’s Saudi-led regime. We understand he would also have been the man the previous ownership turned to had Steve Bruce been sacked on their watch. Lee Charnley, the managing director who remains at the club, is thought to have supported Howe’s cause in light of the takeover. His name did not have the backing of all members close to the new consortium when first floated four weeks ago, but Amanda Staveley was always keen to speak with Howe and he was interviewed last week. However, he thought he had missed out on the role when Villarreal’s Unai Emery emerged as the preferred candidate over the weekend. The Spaniard’s advisers — including his brother, Igor — were in the UK this week in anticipation of his unveiling ahead of Newcastle’s trip to Brighton tomorrow. But when Emery performed a U-turn late on Tuesday night, attention returned to Howe. Some of his former Bournemouth players in the Newcastle dressing room had already communicated their support for their old manager to Staveley. Howe also impressed during his interview by outlining his vision for immediate improvement, with Newcastle winless and 19th in the Premier League. It is thought he shared the view of the hierarchy that fitness levels and organisation could be better, and that the current squad are performing way below their capabilities after a 10-match winless start. Howe is happy to work alongside current interim manager Graeme Jones and is expected to add coaches Stephen Perches, Jason Tindall and Simon Weatherstone to his backroom team. It is likely that Jones will still lead the team at Brighton after a full week of preparation, but Howe will be in the stands at least, should a deal be signed off today.
EDDIE HoWE? What, the bloke from Bournemouth? How is that going to play with some of the inflated egos around Tyneside these days? How does that buy into the narrative of the massive club?
A massive club in massive trouble, looking not just at the league table but the mess being made of the search for a new manager.
No amount of PR soft soap can disguise the chaotic loss of Unai Emery. Newcastle as good as announced his arrival in time for Brighton on Saturday, much as they had signposted Steve Bruce’s departure before the first game. Brief first, ask questions later seems to be the new owners’ policy. Emery, a serious man, saw through that straight away.
It doesn’t matter how many meetings they had, how good the offer, how enthusiastic the pursuit. The proposal leaked from the Newcastle end on an important Villarreal match day, which was embarrassing for Emery and spooked him about the club he was joining.
They looked random and unprofessional and, because Newcastle had made no formal approach to Villarreal, placed him in a difficult position. This then raised other doubts about the way the club was going to be run.
Bottom line, Newcastle blew it. They could almost certainly have got Emery with a more skilled approach. And they needed Emery, because expectations are so high.
They always are, at Newcastle. Long before the Saudi takeover, Rafa Benitez was loved because his status flattered. Champions League winner, La Liga winner, Europa League winner, former manager of Valencia, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Napoli — here was a man big enough for Newcastle. Steve Bruce — late of Wigan, Birmingham, Hull, Sheffield Wednesday and a beaten FA Cup finalist — not so much. How long would Howe’s honeymoon period last at a club that has raised previously exaggerated ideals? Reaction to news of the Emery-Howe switch already displays rumblings of discontent. Howe (left) is a good manager. There have been times in the past five years when he has been discussed as a potential successor to Gareth Southgate. He has been linked with a number of elite jobs, not least opportunities at Tottenham and Arsenal, and his four seasons keeping Bournemouth in the Premier League far outweigh their relegation. Howe is exactly the sort of manager Newcastle should have courted years ago.
Yet that is also the problem. He was courted, or at least considered, by a previous regime. Howe was among the candidates weighed up during Mike Ashley’s reign.
And those who have bought most heavily into the Saudi takeover now think Newcastle are so much bigger than that. They don’t want someone Ashley could have got. They want what was previously out of reach.
Despite his failings at Arsenal, four-time Europa League winner and Ligue 1 champion Emery played into that presumption. He was Rafa II. He was the first marquee signing. He’d even worked with Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Marco Verratti — the level of player the most fevered imaginations believe might one day be heading Newcastle’s way.
This is a further complication for Howe. Yes, he was at Bournemouth with Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Matt Ritchie, but players of that calibre are no longer seen as Newcastle’s future.
Wilson is the best of it right now, but wasn’t snapped up by the Premier League elite when Bournemouth went down. He was bought by Newcastle, at the insistence of Bruce. And we all know what the locals think of Bruce’s judgment. Howe has been out of work since stepping down