As England manager Gareth Southgate leaves Germany a broken man, Eddie Howe jets in with his Newcastle United squad.
A one-week training camp at the state-of-the-art Adidas headquarters in rural Herzogenaurach – just a short drive from Nuremberg – is seen as the perfect platform for a campaign in which the Magpies want to make a mark again after treading water last season.
A raft of recent changes at the top of the club should leave no-one in any doubt that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund expect improvement across the board – from league position to an injury record which i understands came under heavy scrutiny in a detailed end-of-season inquest at St James’ Park.
Howe retains the backing and support of the reconfigured hierarchy at Newcastle – who are preparing to fund what i has been told will be a “substantial” recruitment drive later in the summer – but after Southgate’s decision to step down the black and white agenda is likely to be disrupted by managerial speculation. Howe would be a candidate and how Newcastle deal with that will be fascinating.
Here i considers how things could play out this summer.
Would Howe be a candidate?
As a young, dynamic, talented English coach with substantial Premier League experience and a body of work that would put him in consideration for most top jobs, the Football Association would not be doing their job if they didn’t make an attempt to speak to the Newcastle manager if Southgate resigns.
Somewhat bizarrely he was not interviewed in 2016 when the FA opted for Sam Allardyce before alighting on Southgate. The feeling back then was that he lacked top flight experience.
But i has been told that when Dan Ashworth was the association’s director of elite development his name figured prominently in succession planning. Given Howe’s performance at Newcastle – and, crucially, his ability to develop players – that will not have changed.
Is Eddie Howe interested?
i understands Newcastle would resist any overtures from the FA to speak to Howe. But as the club discovered with Manchester United’s interest in Ashworth, it is the attitude of the individual that really matters.
Publicly and privately Howe has consistently reaffirmed his commitment to Newcastle, repeatedly dodging the England question with his trademark straight bat. He told Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast recently that he was too focused on Newcastle to even think about England – and anyone who has witnessed his single-mindedness first-hand would testify that’s probably not a politician’s answer.
Those close to Howe admit it is a long-term ambition but international football’s prestige has dimmed over the last decade. The paucity of some of the play in Germany over the last month was in stark contrast to the vibrancy of the Premier League and Champions League, where Howe wants to prove himself. Howe desperately wants to end Newcastle’s trophy drought.
Will the changing dynamics at St James’ Park alter Howe’s position?
In the short term, no. But renewed England speculation would come at an interesting time for Howe. The departure of co-owner Amanda Staveley has – in the words of a rival Premier League executive i spoke to last week – “mixed things up a bit”.
While there were warm words in the aftermath of her exit, the dynamics at Newcastle have changed in the aftermath of it. Now the PIF – who do not speak in public and do not brief in private – run the show. And their detachment brings an injection of uncertainty to proceedings.
Staveley and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi, who were minority owners but had an oversized influence on what was going on at Newcastle, were huge allies and offered a layer of protection to Howe during troubles last season. Staveley personally sought out Howe to offer help and support during a run of desperate form last season that came as injuries ravaged the squad.
CEO Darren Eales is another huge supporter of Howe but the appointment of Paul Mitchell, a hands-on director of football who is slated to have immediate influence over recruitment in particular, and performance director James Bunce, whose expertise is injuries, will alter things at Newcastle. There are new voices, new expectations and new pressures on Howe next season. While unity and togetherness are being projected by those in the corridors of power at Newcastle, it will need to be backed up by results.
Expect him to offer a fairly robust reaffirmation of his commitment to Newcastle this week. But it does not necessarily harm him for the England speculation to play out in the background. Newcastle, after all, have an outstanding manager in place.
If not England, what does the summer hold for Howe and Newcastle?
i has been told that recruitment meetings will be held in Germany this week with Newcastle, fresh from their Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) fire sale, armed with a substantial budget to bring in the right forward, striker and centre-back that represent an absolute minimum for them this summer.
So far Mitchell’s role has largely been to dovetail with existing plans. But his connections have opened up possibilities for Newcastle and having mostly been linked with domestic targets so far, overseas options – France and Germany are markets being looked at extensively – are being explored.
All of this will go alongside redoubled efforts to retain their crown jewels Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon, who heads off for a summer break after Euro 2024 with an element of doubt around his future.
After the PSR mess of June and a feeling that they have lost some momentum Newcastle need to get back on the front foot this summer. Expect them to try and seize control of the narrative again this week – and make a real impact in the transfer market later this month.