Paul Mitchell spoke to the media on Wednesday and said that the club would not block Eddie Howe taking the England job if that's what he wanted to do.
While Mitchell made sure it was clear that he wants Eddie Howe to remain at Newcastle and spoke about working together long-term, he did concede that he's not the type of person to stand in someone's way if a bigger offer came in - and for managers, they don't come much bigger than the England job.
Lee Carsley has taken charge of the Three Lions on an interim basis after Gareth Southgate stepped down from the role after Euro 2024, and Eddie Howe has often been described as the perfect coach to take over the role.
Howe himself has tried to distance himself from the reports, but at the same time admitted that it would be a role he'd be interested in at some point in his career.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Gabby Agbonlahor has suggested that the frustrations with PSR and the fact that Newcastle can't spend the vast fortunes of their owners may frustrate Howe to the point where taking the England job seems like the best idea.
"If I'm the FA I'm looking at the way football is now with the PSR problems. That isn't what Eddie Howe thought was going to happen. The future of Newcastle now with these rules, they can't buy anyone.
"Eddie Howe would have been frustrated by the transfer window and if he can get out and go and manage his country I'm sure he will, and the FA will use that to their advantage."
It's not often I'll give Agbonlahor credit for speaking sense, but his logic here works. The frustrations of this summer could be enough to force Howe to seriously assess his future.
Fortunately, we still believe that Eddie Howe loves the day-to-day running of a club, the daily grind, way too much to take up a more passive role as a national manager just yet.
Howe has a lot of plans and goals for Newcastle and we don't see him turning his back on those just because things didn't go his way this time.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |