Eddie Howe spoke as a man out to prove a point when talking to the media scrum at the Adidas headquarters, issuing a demand to be backed by the club.
Since Gareth Southgate left his position as manager of the men’s national team, there has been ever present speculation that Eddie Howe was one of the front runners with the FA. A constant noise and worry for the majority of the Newcastle faithful. The noise growing ever louder after his internal allies Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi left their positions as board members on 12th July. All the time, Newcastle fans only wanting to have one question answered, will Eddie Howe be in the dugout come the beginning of what is going to be a pivotal season for the club?
Now Staveley and Ghodoussi have left, there has been the swift directorship appointments of Paul Mitchell and James Bunce. Mitchell, being the transfer guru for the likes of the Monaco and Tottenham should provide active participation and strategy in player recruitment supporting the manager. Bunce who aided in Monaco overhauling their player fitness crisis, similar to Newcastle’s in the 23/24 season. Both figures, should provide best in class experience.
These appointments or bold and forward-thinking approach from the club. However, in Staveley and Ghodoussi, Howe had close and vocal allies in the boardroom and largely had control over most aspects of the first team set up. This has been a constant and stable since the takeover.
