Newcastle hold clear-the-air talks with Eddie Howe after growing ‘alarmed’ by comments over future amid England links

NEWCASTLE UNITED chiefs have allegedly held “clear-the-air” talks with Eddie Howe after being “alarmed” at his comments last week.

The Football Association are officially advertising for Gareth Southgate’s replacement with the Magpies boss among the favourites to take over.

That led to Newcastle issuing a hands-off warning to the FA by revealing that their manager had signed a multi-year contract extension last summer which does not include a set figure release clause.

Magpies CEO Darren Eales also vowed to fight to hang on to the ex-Bournemouth man and said that he still believes the 46-year-old is the “right man for the project”.

However, it has been a summer of upheaval and change at the North East club.

Howe’s key allies Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi have both left along with Dan Ashworth’s exit for Manchester United.

Paul Mitchell and James Bunce have arrived as sporting and performance director respectively.

Howe, who has not worked with either before, admitted that “boundaries of relationships and how they’re going to work are slightly unclear”.

As well as raising those concerns over the change in management structure, he also raised questions regarding his own future should those issues not be resolved.

But Howe did insist that if he is happy to stay and snub England should he feel supported.

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Now The Telegraph have released a report that claims the Toon’s board were concerned about his comments.

And that has led to them having “clear-the-air talks” with Howe that has left them “confident he would reject any potential interest from England”.

Howe had said on Friday: “There’s absolutely no point in me saying I’m happy staying at Newcastle if the dynamic isn’t right.

“I’m certainly not serving Newcastle well if I do that.”

Toon chiefs had no idea that their manager would vent his frustrations and concerns publicly.

But they have moved fast to offer “reassurances he will continue to hold significant power and will not be reduced to a first-team coach” at St. Jame’s Park.

Eales led the meetings and allegedly reassured Howe that he would have a big say in recruitment.

And he was also promised that he would be “involved in all major decisions over the club’s direction of travel”.

This fresh report adds that Howe is happy with the promises made that “the new management structure will be a collaboration between himself and Mitchell, as well as performance director James Bunce” and that “nothing will be imposed on him”.