Coach Eddie Howe was once again mentioned along with two legends Sir Bobby Robson and Kevin Keegan, but this time in a regretful situation. Like his two predecessors, Howe left Newcastle when the team was facing an instability transition period. The difference is that he left before the new season started, instead of between the first rounds.
Less than a month before the Premier League 2026-2027 kicked off, the 1-4 defeat to Bristol City in a friendly exposed a dilapidated Newcastle. After 5 years of leading the team, Howe left when the project he built was in danger of collapsing.
However, the legacy of the English strategist is undeniable. Howe did something that even Robson or Keegan failed: ending the club's 70-year domestic title drought with the Carabao Cup championship. He also helped Newcastle win two Champions League tickets and turned St James' Park into a formidable destination for any opponent.
From a team sunk in the bottom group when Howe took over at the end of 2021, Newcastle quickly became a competitor in the top group of the Premier League.
However, Howe's last season ended incompletely. Newcastle lost 9 of the last 17 matches in the Premier League, lost both legs against Sunderland and was crushed by Barcelona in the Champions League. The decline in form reflects the existing problems both on and off the pitch of the "Magpies".
Howe's biggest difficulty came from transfer work. Despite being backed by Saudi Arabian owners, Newcastle continuously failed to recruit top targets. Many stars refused to join the team, while a series of key players successively left St James' Park.
Bruno Guimaraes is said to be joining Arsenal, following in the footsteps of Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali leaving Newcastle. In less than a year, Newcastle is at risk of losing 4 of their most important players, causing the framework that Howe painstakingly built to almost disintegrate. Previously, having to sell Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest to balance finances was also considered one of the controversial decisions of the board of directors.
In the opposite direction, new contracts do not meet expectations. Besides Malick Thiaw, most new signings have not left a mark, and many targets such as Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko or Joao Pedro have refused Newcastle.
Howe once took over a Newcastle mired in crisis and turned the team into a force capable of competing with the "big guys" of English football. Impressive victories against Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool, along with the Carabao Cup championship, will forever be beautiful memories for fans in Tyneside.
Now, the responsibility for rebuilding belongs to Matthias Jaissle and Newcastle's board of directors. However, the successor will have to start from a disoriented team, in the context that Howe's departure has left a very large gap in both expertise and spirit.
