Eddie Howe has been confirmed as the manager of Newcastle United, six months after rejecting the offer to manager Celtic, after many months of leading the Celtic Board up the garden path.
Celtic quickly moved on to bring in the former Australia manager Ange Postecoglou from J-League side Yokohama F. Marinos and the support quickly forget all about the frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of the former Bournemouth manager.
Howe claimed that he couldn’t get his backroom staff at Bournemouth to agree to join him in Glasgow but that doesn’t seem to be a problem in the North East as the new Saudi Arabian owners eventually get a new manager to replace Steve Bruce.
Howe will have access to you would imagine huge transfer funds – rumoured to be £50m – in the January window as he strives to get Newcastle out of relegation trouble. Former owner, Michael Ashley had been limiting his expenditure for many years as he tried very hard indeed to force through a sale to the new owners. That sale went through last month and now they’re brought in the former Celtic target to build their team.
Speaking to the official Newcastle United website Howe said: “It is a great honour to become head coach of a club with the stature and history of Newcastle United. 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.”
Amanda Staveley, one of the club’s new owners 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.”
Few if any tears are being shed by Celtic fans because we missed out on Howe. Everyone is very happy that we’ve got Ange Postecoglou instead! It will be interesting to see how Eddie gets on at Newcastle!
🤝 𝗛𝗢𝗪𝗘-𝗔𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗦 🤝
We are delighted to confirm the appointment of Eddie Howe as the club’s new head coach.
Welcome to Newcastle United, Eddie! ⚫️⚪️
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 8, 2021
Howe wasn’t the right choice for us and long term, he won’t be the right choice for Newcastle either. But as a manager used to battling relegation, he may well be the right choice for this season.
Also, I don’t believe Ange is the right choice for us either. His one dimensional tactics leave us very vulnerable at the back, and owning possession does not guarantee goals!