It’s only been a short while since Gareth Southgate resigned from the England job, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation that Newcastle United manager, Eddie Howe, would be the perfect replacement.
That neatly bypasses the fact that there’s a due diligence process that needs to be gone through by the Football Association in the first instance, and that the Magpies board would almost certainly turn down any FA request to speak to Howe.
Given how brilliantly Howe’s teams play football, and his tactical understanding of the game, it’s no real surprise that the FA would want to at least test the waters and see where the land lies.
Recent comments attributed to the Newcastle manager have, apparently, pushed the club’s board into clear-the-air talks with Howe, according to The Telegraph (subscription required).
There has to be a degree of worry for those talks to have been initiated, and indeed, the outlet detail Newcastle’s CEO, Darren Eales, describing Howe as “phenomenal,” which clearly evidences the esteem which the 46-year-old is held in by the St. James’ Park hierarchy.
It seems that comments Howe has made to the media about being happy if he continues to be supported in doing his work as he has been to this point is what has blindsided the Newcastle board.
Though the manager hasn’t explicitly said he would take the England job, there was enough in his statements to hint at it being a possibility if the direction that Newcastle were taking took some of Howe’s power away.
Paul Mitchell having replaced Dan Ashworth as sporting director should arguably be a seamless transition, however, if the new man wants more say in transfer dealings, thereby weakening Howe’s position, that is just one area of contention that could see the latter walk in due course.
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