Updated: 31 Jul 2026 07:15 BST |
6 min read
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In the last 12 months, Newcastle have seen three of their best players leave, endured countless rejections from top transfer targets and have now had their manager resign as the club captain is prepared to be sold. And yet, there is still reason to be excited at St James’ Park.
Newcastle fans were stunned on Thursday as they woke up to news that Eddie Howe was to suddenly leave three weeks before the start of the season, having expressed his pride at managing the club just 12 hours before, following a 4-1 pre-season loss to Bristol City.
But, inside the club, the news was not a surprise. It had been more two weeks in the making after Howe returned from his post-season break with the realisation that he simply did not have the energy to oversee the rebuild happening on Tyneside.
Well, ‘rebuild’ would be putting it mildly. After seeing Alexander Isak go on strike to force a record transfer to Liverpool last summer, a shellshocked Newcastle never really recovered, ultimately finishing 12th in a lacklustre campaign.
The failure to qualify for Europe ultimately led to players wanting to leave and the club needing to make sales to balance their books, prompting the departures of key stars Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon for a combined fee of more than €180 million.
Newcastle have since been forced into talks to sell Bruno Guimaraes after their captain asked to join Arsenal and his expected sale, along with Howe’s departure, could be seen as an end to the club’s Saudi Arabian-backed project…or the start of a new era and identity for the Magpies.
How the Eddie Howe era came to an abrupt and grinding halt in Newcastle
One year ago, Newcastle were seen as a genuine threat to the status quo after assembling a pesky and passionate team built around Isak, Tonali, Gordon and Guimaraes and qualifying for the Champions League, while also ending the club’s 70-year domestic trophy drought.
However, things have not gone to plan since then and none of those players will remain if Guimaraes completes his expected €90m move to Arsenal in the coming days, while the club’s poor reinvestment of the Isak money will not have filled anyone with confidence that they could do it properly this time around.
But, unlike last summer, Newcastle have a committed CEO and sporting director in place, both of whom have been preparing for this summer for many months, albeit without anticipating the exits of Howe and Guimaraes.
Newcastle went into the transfer window expecting Howe to lead their rebuild, even if the 48-year-old was perhaps uncomfortable with the pivot towards a younger squad, with none of the club’s four signings this summer being above the age of 20.
Having previously tried to compete with the Premier League’s top sides for the best wonderkids in the world, Newcastle found themselves falling short as targets such as Benjamin Sesko, James Trafford and Victor Munoz repeatedly picked other clubs despite entering into advanced talks with the Magpies.
Since then, Newcastle have conducted their incoming business with strict confidentiality this summer, with the arrivals of Ewen Jaouen, Bazoumana Toure, Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba – who some see as Guimaraes’ replacement – all not being reported until the deals were virtually completed.
The four signings are all relative unknowns with limited experience but, crucially, they all were desperate to join Newcastle for fees which the club believe they can exponentially profit on in the future.
The secrecy approach showed itself again with Howe’s exit, with the English coach telling the club of his decision weeks ago but opting to remain in charge until a successor was in place.
And so, immediately after news filtered of Howe’s resignation, reports emerged that Al-Ahli coach Matthias Jaissle was in advanced talks to become Newcastle’s next head coach and to spearhead the next phase of the Saudi project.
Why Matthias Jaissle can be the perfect successor to Eddie Howe at Newcastle
If Newcastle’s new policy is to bring in young, ambitious and relatively unproven talents with strong fundamentals then the expected appointment of Jaissle could not be more fitting.
The 38-year-old has earned plaudits for his intense, frontfoot tactics, having earned his coaching stripes at Red Bull Salzburg with league titles in both his seasons in charge, before joining Al-Ahli where he has won back-to-back Asian Champions Leagues.
Jaissle is familiar to Newcastle’s ownership due to them also being in charge of Al-Ahli and the German’s impending hiring has quickly been touted as a shrewd move, particularly given that most top managers have already resolved their coaching situations for the upcoming season.
Howe, for all his successes, had become a jaded and divisive figure amongst Newcastle supporters in recent months, with his tactical system slowly grown stale and a sense of stubbornness creeping into his coaching habits.
In contrast, the arrival of Jaissle brings in a manager with fresh, innovative ideas who is hungry to prove his credentials at the highest level and work in tandem with Newcastle’s new vision. All while bringing major success to every club he’s been at so far.
A four-year deal has been agreed with Jaissle and he will join up with Newcastle’s squad as they head for their pre-season tour in Spain, giving the coach a perfect opportunity to prepare his new team ahead of their Premier League opener against Liverpool on 23 August.
By then, Newcastle will have Guimaraes’ situation resolved one way or another and Jaissle will have had the opportunity to bring players in who are suited to his style, while also getting to know the existing squad who may be feeling uneasy after Howe’s sudden exit.
There will be a period of mourning on Tyneside as the sudden end of the Howe and Guimaraes era sinks in but Jaissle will have the golden opportunity of starting with a blank slate at a club crying out for a new direction and a sense of belief.
If Jaissle can harness the passion and love for the club Howe displayed and also build on his predecessor’s work, Newcastle fans will welcome their manager with open arms and soon forget the painful end to an otherwise successful tenure by entering a fresh dawn under their new messiah.
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