Eddie Howe Leaves Newcastle as Jaissle Set to Take Over

Eddie Howe’s Newcastle reign is over. Not in May, not in the tidy window after a bruising season, but in the middle of pre-season, days after a 4-1 defeat to Bristol City in a friendly that now feels like an epilogue.

Sources have told BBC Sport that Howe will leave the club with immediate effect, bringing down the curtain on a tenure that dragged Newcastle from relegation anxiety to Champions League nights and a long-awaited domestic trophy. Matthias Jaissle, currently in charge of Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli, is expected to be appointed as his successor.

A Sudden End to a Transformative Era

Howe arrived at St James’ Park in November 2021, just weeks after the Saudi Public Investment Fund completed its takeover. Newcastle were drifting, anxious and flat. He gave them structure, belief and, crucially, momentum.

The numbers tell one story. Eighty-four wins from 179 Premier League games, 38 draws, 57 defeats. More top-flight victories than any other Newcastle manager. A Premier League win rate of 46.9%, bettered only by Kevin Keegan.

The memories tell another. Champions League qualification in 2023 and again in 2025. A first major domestic trophy in 70 years when Newcastle lifted the 2025 Carabao Cup. St James’ Park roaring under the lights as the club rediscovered its swagger.

Yet the end has been anything but romantic.

Newcastle finished 12th last season, losing 17 of their 38 league games. They slid from the heights of a fifth-place finish in 2024-25 to an underwhelming mid-table slog, their league form unravelling even as they fought deep into cup competitions.

They reached the last 16 of the Champions League before Barcelona dismantled them 8-3 on aggregate. Their EFL Cup defence ran to the semi-finals. On paper, it wasn’t collapse. On the pitch, it felt like a side running out of steam.

Transfer Strains and a Manager’s Changing Perspective

Behind the scenes, the tension grew. Well-placed sources indicate Howe was taken aback by aspects of Newcastle’s transfer business this summer. He knew sales were coming. He understood the financial constraints and the need to move players on. Earlier this year, he had decided to stay at St James’ Park regardless of the inevitable departures.

But over the summer, his perspective shifted.

Newcastle had spent around £240m on new players a year ago, a show of ambition that seemed to back Howe’s project. The subsequent dismantling of key pieces hit hard. Alexander Isak’s move to Liverpool was a particular blow. In January, Howe described losing the striker as “ever-challenging” and repeatedly called in press conferences for reinforcements.

They never truly came in the form he wanted.

This summer, the exodus deepened. Sandro Tonali left for Tottenham. Anthony Gordon departed for Barcelona. Arsenal are now chasing captain Bruno Guimaraes. The core that powered Newcastle’s surge into Europe is being steadily stripped away.

In March, chief executive David Hopkinson insisted the club were “not having those conversations” about changing manager “at the moment”. A few months on, the landscape is unrecognisable.

A Club at a Crossroads

Howe’s final game in charge – a 4-1 pre-season defeat to Bristol City on Wednesday – will not define his legacy, but it underlines the awkwardness of the timing. This is not the clean break many inside and outside the club expected.

The sense of dislocation is echoed by the supporters.

Charlotte Robson of the True Faith: Newcastle United Podcast questioned why the decision was not made at the end of last season, when “a lot of high-calibre managers were looking for new clubs” and when it was already clear Howe needed a break. She spoke of a manager whose visible exhaustion mirrored the team’s dip in form, and of an “amicable separation” that might have been better handled months ago.

Others are more emotional, more blunt.

Ben credits Howe with giving Newcastle “its spark back” – rescuing them from a relegation scrap, restoring them to the Champions League, reviving careers and delivering some of the most fearless football the stadium has seen in years. For him, Howe leaves with “graft, pride and proper memories” as his legacy.

For Roger, the decision is “a total disaster”. The cool-headed tactician and inspiration of the club’s recent success, he argues, will be extremely hard to replace, and he fears Newcastle now “look like a serious relegation prospect”.

Hazel, a season-ticket holder, calls herself “heartbroken”. She points to the context Howe battled through: management changes, PSR rules, injuries, the churn of key players. In her eyes, he “performed nothing short of miracles” to turn the team around and win a cup, and did a “reasonable job” just to hold everything together as the season frayed.

Tom focuses on the timing. Middle of pre-season. New recruits largely young and unproven at Premier League level. Two of the best players already gone, a third possibly to follow. “If there was ever a worst possible time to lose a manager, it’s now,” he says, convinced this could set the club back years.

Simon, meanwhile, sounds a warning to those who pushed hardest for change. He understands the frustration with last season, but urges caution: be careful what you wish for. Howe, he insists, must leave with the fans’ best wishes.

Jaissle Awaits, Questions Mount

Into this maelstrom steps Matthias Jaissle, expected to be confirmed as Howe’s successor. The Al-Ahli manager will inherit a club transformed by wealth and expectation, but suddenly fragile.

He will follow a man who replaced Steve Bruce and immediately altered the club’s trajectory, who ended a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy, who turned a nervous, drifting side into Champions League regulars.

He will also inherit a squad shorn of stars, a fanbase split between gratitude and alarm, and a Premier League season looming fast.

Newcastle wanted to move from revival to consolidation, from romance to sustained success. With Howe gone and key players departing, the question now is stark:

Have they just taken the next step forward in their project – or the first step back towards the old Newcastle they thought they had left behind?