Former Newcastle United star not surprised by Eddie Howe's England snub

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A former Magpies star has spoken out over the FA’s decision not to approach Eddie Howe to take charge of England.

Former Newcastle United star Warren Barton has admitted he was not surprised the Football Association decided against appointing Eddie Howe as England manager.

The former Bournemouth boss has enjoyed a largely positive three years at St James Park after he was named as successor to Steve Bruce in November 2021. After helping United move away from the relegation zone before the end of the season, Howe guided the Magpies to a surprise top four finish during his first full season on Tyneside and also became the first Newcastle manager to lead the club into a major cup final this century during the same campaign.

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Howe’s stock remains high as Newcastle continue to push for Europe this season and there were suggestions he could have been in line to succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager after his decision to step down from the role in the aftermath of the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 Final defeat against Spain last summer. However, Howe revealed he was not approached by the Football Association, who opted to name former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel as the man to guide their bid to qualify for the World Cup Finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Speaking in October after confirming he was not approached, Howe said: "England have to do what is right for them and only they will know the processes they have gone through and the decisions they have made. I am certainly not the type of person that is going to analyse that. For me, it's about Newcastle and trying to win games and it's hard enough to do that if you are 100% focused, and I will always remain that way to my work. If you drop your levels, then the job becomes impossible and at no stage have I allowed myself to do that."

For Barton, who made over 190 appearances during a seven-year stay at Newcastle during the 1990s, the decision not to approach Howe was ‘comfortable’ for the Football Association, who believes the governing body would not want to disrupt the Magpies manager’s work at St James Park.

He told SportsBoom: “I wasn’t surprised Eddie was overlooked for England because I think the FA would have known he was really, really happy at Newcastle. Thomas Tuchel was obviously out of work and keen to take the job. The FA probably thought it was going to be a tug-of-war, so that’s why they probably went with Tuchel and didn’t want to disturb Eddie’s situation at Newcastle.

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“For me it was a comfortable decision for the FA to make. Pep Guardiola would have been the ideal choice and, if not, then Jurgen Klopp or whoever it may have been. But Thomas Tuchel has good pedigree, a good understanding of the game and he knows the Premier League and knows a lot of the players very well. It would have been a tough one for Eddie to leave Newcastle because he loves the club."

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