Newcastle United have officially appointed former Bournemouth coach Eddie Howe as the club’s new manager weeks after the club sacked Steve Bruce.
Recall that when a Saudi Arabia-backed consortium bought the Premier League club for £305 million in October, one of the first moves of the club was to sack coach Bruce who has been the manager of the side since 2019.
Bruce was looking forward to managing the club under the new owners who are reportedly worth £320 billion. The new owners are said to be ready to invest millions into the club and supporters feel Bruce would not be the right man to handle the huge investment, hence, he was allowed to go.
After his sack, Newcastle United appointed Graeme Jones as the club’s caretaker coach while they continued with their search for an A-list coach. The caretaker coach continued from where Bruce stopped, which was to lose or draw games.
Initially, Newcastle United showed interest in the former manager of Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, and former manager of Inter Milan, Antonio Conte but none of them agreed to join the club.
Instead, Conte who left Inter Milan at the end of last season, decided to replace Nuno Espirito Santo at Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
When it was obvious that Newcastle United would not be able to get those A-list coaches, they tried to sign the former coach of Roma, Paulo Fonseca. The ex-Roma coach was ready to join the Premier League club but the negotiations broke down halfway.
Afterward, the former Arsenal coach who is currently the head coach of Villarreal, Unai Emery, became the next target of the club. The Premier League club had reportedly started the negotiation process before the deal collapsed.
Amid all the back and forth, Newcastle United were still sinking into relegation. They are currently sitting on the 19th spot on the league table with 5 points in 11 games, equal points with bottom-placed Norwich City.
Since it was obvious that no big-name coach was willing to join the club despite the amount of money that might be available for the coach to spend in the transfer market, the club decided to settle for former Bournemouth and Burnley coach Eddie Howe.
Eddie Howe signed a deal with Newcastle United which would keep him at the club until June 30, 2024.
Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley said: “We have been incredibly impressed by Eddie through what has been a rigorous recruitment process.
“As well as his obvious achievements with AFC Bournemouth, where he had a transformational impact, he is a passionate and dynamic coach who has clear ideas about taking this team and club forward.
“He is a great fit for what we are trying to build here. We are delighted to welcome Eddie and his staff to St James’ Park and very much look forward to working together towards our collective ambitions.”
Here is what we know about the managerial career of Eddie Howe
Unlike other glamorous coaches, Newcastle United tried to sign, Eddie Howe has been a coach who has been coaching average clubs.
The 43-year-old English tactician started his managerial career at Bournemouth in 2008. He stayed at the club until 2011 and helped them to gain promotion from the fourth tier to league one.
Due to how well he performed at Bournemouth, he was appointed Burnley coach in 2011. He failed to help the club to gain promotion from the Championship to the Premier League. Hence, he decided to leave Burnley in 2012.
In that same year, he returned to Bournemouth and helped them to gain promotion to the Championship in 2013 and subsequently helped the club to gain promotion to the Premier League in 2015.
He helped Bournemouth to stay in the Premier League for five seasons before he led them to relegation during the 2019-2020 season.
Immediately after the club was relegated, Eddie Howe decided to resign and remained without a managerial job for over 15 months before Newcastle United confirmed his appointment on Monday, November 8, 2021.
His main job at Newcastle United which will begin on Saturday, November 20 when the club takes on Brentford at Goodison Park, will be to keep the club in the Premier League.
“It is a great honor to become head coach of a club with the stature and history of Newcastle United,” said Howe.
“It is a very proud day for me and my family.
“This is a wonderful opportunity, but there is also a lot of work ahead of us and I am eager to get onto the training ground to start working with the players.
“I would like to thank the club’s owners for this opportunity and thank the club’s supporters for the incredible welcome they have already given me. I am very excited to begin our journey together.”
🗣 "This is a wonderful opportunity but there is also a lot of work ahead of us."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 8, 2021
Eddie Howe reacts to being appointed #NUFC head coach 👇pic.twitter.com/UPjRI68cpo
In the history of his managerial career, Eddie Howe has recorded 228 wins, 114 draws, and 203 losses in 545 games in all competitions.
