I was sad to learn that Eddie Howe and Newcastle United had decided to go their separate ways.
A team boss who was so much more than a manager to our club.
He just got Newcastle United and it’s people/fans and in my opinion he leaves as a club legend and is the best manager the club has seen.
Eddie always put the club, fans and his players first, even at the point when some supporters wanted didn’t want him, this is the measure of the man we have been lucky to have had as our manager for the last five years.
Despite what some say was a ‘disappointing’ 2025/26 season, Eddie Howe can certainly leave with his head held high, a manager who in my opinion massively overachieved with this club, a club which in my opinion were somewhat ignorantly put on a supposed never ending upward trajectory due to the Saudi backed takeover. The reality of course is very very different, due to PSR or whatever it is now called.
One of my earlier contributions to The Mag I stated Eddie Howe was the ‘cheat code’ to these rules which are crippling football/the Premier League. A cheat code due to his coaching ability, his ability to get the best out of everyone at a club, his work ethic and determination, and his obsession with detail and all things football, clear for everyone to see!
The (2022/23) season after saving the club from relegation, Champions League football was achieved with what pundits had called a (for the most part) Championship squad. Eddie and his coaching staff working miracles with the likes of Murphy, Almiron, Willock, Longstaff etc.
I said it at the time that Champions League football almost came (at least) a season too early for us. Eddie a victim of his own success when the following (2023/24) season, although having some memorable European nights, we struggled domestically (in comparison to the previous season) due to the fixture schedule, still finishing 7th. This was seen as not being good enough by some fans (probably the same lot that say they only demand a team that tries).
The following (2024/25) season qualifying for Champions League by finishing 5th, not to mention after having had a few windows where no significant investments were made in the playing squad. On top of that league form, Eddie Howe delivered the club’s first major domestic trophy in 70 years, a day I was so grateful to have been there for.
In his four full seasons, Eddie Howe took NUFC to cup finals on two occasions, as well as a semi-final, in total five times getting to the quarter-finals or beyond!!
These stats/achievements are what Newcastle United fans have always longed for, so why has it not been enough for some? Is it because there is a false perception around where the club should be given the ownership? Does the club get compared to the likes of Man City and Chelsea, clubs who were able to build huge financial powerbases without being hamstrung by these rules!
For me it does feel like a very sad moment in the club’s history to lose such a great manager, but it does also feel like a very worrying time for the club, the Premier League is as competitive as ever in terms of staying in it.
We all know no one can currently really challenge and sustain long-term a challenge on the top teams, but I feel like Newcastle United are sleepwalking into this season with an incoming manager in Matthias Jaissle who has no experience in England and a squad which also lacks experience. The squad has a Mike Ashley squad feel about it – Bassong, N’Zogbia and co. We have to hope these players end up like Cisse, Cabaye and co.
Worrying times and maybe Eddie had seen enough on the back of high profile player departures… can you blame him?
After all, he always will be a man of integrity and a man who saved our club and delivered silverware and for that, although it doesn’t feel like enough, I want to thank you Eddie Howe, a Newcastle United legend.