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Howe exits, Jaissle nears
Eddie Howe left Newcastle United after losing control of transfers, with Matthias Jaissle set to replace him as the German coach in charge of the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.
“Eddie Howe has left Newcastle after losing control of transfers”
The departure followed Newcastle’s 4-1 pre-season friendly defeat at Bristol City on Wednesday night, and Sky Sports said Howe and club bosses held talks over the past two days before he left his job with immediate effect on Thursday.
Howe had been in charge at St James’ Park for almost five years after succeeding Steve Bruce in November 2021, and the Guardian said he left with negotiations with Jaissle at an advanced stage on Thursday morning.
The Guardian also said Jaissle, 38, has been in charge of Al-Ahli since 2023 and that he has presided over 90 wins, 25 draws and 23 defeats, while Sky Sports reported Newcastle’s first game of the new season is at home to Liverpool on 23 August.
Sky Sports added that Howe ended Newcastle’s 70-year wait for a trophy by winning the Carabao Cup and took them into the Champions League twice, but Newcastle finished 12th in the Premier League and were beaten 4-1 by Bristol City in a pre-season friendly.
Inside story and quotes
Sky Sports News’ Keith Downie said Howe questioned whether it was time for a change after Newcastle’s defeat to Fulham on the final day of last season, and that talks two days later left everyone at the club feeling aligned that he would continue.
Downie’s account said Howe told the club and reporters that he was all in, then returned from a family holiday to bring up the same point again, realizing he had taken the club as far as he could.
The BBC website column by Alan Shearer thanked Howe for “the best day of my life as a Newcastle United fan,” and Shearer wrote that he “would say the same” to every fan “because he ended our long wait to win a major trophy.”
Shearer also said he “wouldn’t be surprised if that affects Eddie's thinking about staying or leaving,” pointing to the sales of Alexander Isak, then Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, and ongoing speculation about captain Bruno Guimarães’s future.
The i Paper said Newcastle told it the club had been working on a replacement for more than a fortnight, and it added that Jaissle would be confirmed in time for the start of Newcastle’s La Manga training camp at the end of the week.
What it means next
Newcastle’s next steps are shaped by the immediate question of Bruno Guimarães, with Goal saying United are exploring a move for Newcastle full-back Hall while the Magpies navigate a “massive summer player exodus” that included the sales of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali for a combined £170m.
“Newcastle remain adamant they will not sell him on the cheap.”
The i Paper said Newcastle’s valuation exceeds £80m for Guimarães and that it would require an experienced, pedigree midfielder if he goes, while it also said it had “no truth in talk of an agreement with Arsenal being close for £70m.”
Sky Sports said Jaissle is favourite to replace Howe, and it listed friendlies against Valencia (8 August), Everton (12 August), Leverkusen (15 August) and Strasbourg (16 August) before Newcastle’s Premier League opener at home to Liverpool on 23 August.
The Guardian reported that Howe had become disillusioned after seeing his powerbase and ability to dictate transfer policy diminished, and it said Ross Wilson believes the recruitment pivot is the best way to remain within football’s spending rules under a Uefa settlement agreement.
The Independent framed the stakes as a transition so close to the season that it left Newcastle in trouble, noting that Howe’s probable replacement Matthias Jaissle will inherit “a host of problems,” while it said Newcastle lost six of their last nine league games last season and ended 12th.
