Eddie Howe Seeks Right ‘Dynamic’ as Newcastle Future Comes Under Question

Eddie Howe directs training at the Adidas training facilities in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Photograph: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United/Getty Images
Eddie Howe directs training at the Adidas training facilities in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Photograph: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United/Getty Images
TT
20

Eddie Howe Seeks Right ‘Dynamic’ as Newcastle Future Comes Under Question

Eddie Howe directs training at the Adidas training facilities in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Photograph: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United/Getty Images
Eddie Howe directs training at the Adidas training facilities in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Photograph: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United/Getty Images

Appearances can be deceptive and the apparently carefree Howe had much to ponder at a moment when he appears high on the Football Association’s shortlist to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager but faces a battle to retain the autonomy over recruitment and training strategy he has enjoyed since taking over at Newcastle in November 2021.

The departure of the former co-owner Amanda Staveley, a key Howe ally, and the installation of Paul Mitchell as director of football and James Bunce as performance director threaten to dilute the amount of control Howe has enjoyed at a club with Saudi Arabian majority ownership.

It explains why, on Friday, he played a political game with the media straight out of the old playbook of one of his St James’ predecessors, Rafael Benítez. Despite playing a pretty straight bat with broadcast journalists, suggesting his loyalties lay with Newcastle rather than England, Howe was rather more equivocal with newspaper reporters, hinting that a potential offer from the FA could become attractive if the club he remained “emotionally invested in” failed to allow him to set “boundaries” in his new relationships with Mitchell and Bunce.

Although he praised both men’s capabilities, Howe will not have enjoyed a recent meeting with the Saudis at a Northumberland hotel when his squad’s extensive injury problems last season were analysed. Injury prevention ranks high among Bunce’s skills and it appears an ownership that, for all its admiration of the 46-year-old’s coaching brilliance, seemingly believes that fitness problems cost the club European qualification and that Howe’s training sessions may require a little modification.

Bunce has previously said he cannot be best friends with managers and has to sometimes hold difficult conversations with them. Those comments go a long way to explaining why Newcastle’s normally very circumspect manager used the leverage afforded by the FA’s interest to indulge in such a blatant power play in Bavaria.

Similarly, when Staveley was running the club, Howe had the final word on player recruitment and his nephew Andy Howe played a significant part in that sphere; his fear now is that Mitchell may reduce that power.

“I absolutely want to stay but it has to be right for me and the club,” said Howe. “There’s no point in me saying I’m happy staying at Newcastle if the dynamic isn’t right. As a new team coming together we have to set our boundaries.”

Earlier in the week, Newcastle’s chief executive, Darren Eales, had talked about the recent personnel changes as enabling the manager to spend “more time on the grass, where Eddie’s at his best” but as Howe put it on Friday: “I’ve made the points I have today because this has to work for Newcastle.

“I have been really happy for two and a half years. I have loved every second of the relationships that I’ve had and the way I’ve been able to work. I think that has brought success. We’re in the flux of change, I can’t say with a definitive answer where that will lead.”

For a man who enjoyed so much control over every sphere at his previous club Bournemouth, that during his early days he sometimes locked up the ground at night and proofread the match programme, the past weeks have proved unsettling.

“Of course I’ve spoken to the Public Investment Fund [about this summer’s events] and will continue to speak to them,” Howe said. “The relationship is good.

“Since PIF have been here, and I want to make this clear, they’ve done some amazing things for the club and they are absolutely going to do some amazing things for it in the future. Everyone should be very excited about what is ahead for Newcastle.”

The Guardian Sport



Coco Gauff is Just 21 but Already Thinking About What to Do after Tennis

Coco Gauff of the US takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London,  Britain, 27 June 2025. The Wimbledon Championships 2025 will be played from 30 June to 13 July 2025.  EPA/NEIL HALL
Coco Gauff of the US takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Britain, 27 June 2025. The Wimbledon Championships 2025 will be played from 30 June to 13 July 2025. EPA/NEIL HALL
TT
20

Coco Gauff is Just 21 but Already Thinking About What to Do after Tennis

Coco Gauff of the US takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London,  Britain, 27 June 2025. The Wimbledon Championships 2025 will be played from 30 June to 13 July 2025.  EPA/NEIL HALL
Coco Gauff of the US takes part in a practice session ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Britain, 27 June 2025. The Wimbledon Championships 2025 will be played from 30 June to 13 July 2025. EPA/NEIL HALL

To be clear, Coco Gauff didn't bring up the word “star” during a recent interview with The Associated Press; the reporter did. So as Gauff began to answer a question about balancing her life as a professional athlete with her off-court interests, she caught herself repeating that term.

“I definitely didn’t know how it would look like,” she began with a smile, “before I got to be, I guess, a star — feels weird to call myself that — but I definitely did want to expand outside of tennis. Always. Since I was young.”

She still is young, by just about any measure, and she is a really good tennis player — Gauff owns the Grand Slam titles and No. 2 ranking to prove it as she heads into Wimbledon, which begins Monday — but the 21-year-old American is also more than that, The Associated Press reported.

Someone unafraid to express her opinions about societal issues. Someone who connects with fans via social media. Someone who is the highest-paid female athlete in any sport, topping $30 million last year, according to Sportico.com, with less than a third of that from prize money and most via deals with companies such as UPS, New Balance, Rolex and Barilla. Someone who recently launched her own management firm.

And someone who wants to succeed in the business world long after she no longer swings a racket on tour.

“It's definitely something that I want to start to step up for post-career. Kind of start building that process, which is why I wanted to do it early. Because I didn’t want to feel like I was playing catch-up at the end of my career,” said Gauff, who will face Dayana Yastremska in the first round at the All England Club on Tuesday.

“On the business side of things, it doesn’t come as natural as tennis feels. I’m still learning, and I have a lot to learn about," Gauff said. "I’ve debated different things and what paths I wanted to take when it came to just stimulating my brain outside of the court, because I always knew that once I finished high school that I needed to put my brain into something else.”

In a campaign announced this week by UPS, which first partnered with Gauff in 2023 before she won that year's US Open, she connects with business coach Emma Grede — known for working with Kim Kardashian on Skims, and with Khloe Kardashian on Good American — to offer mentoring to three small-business owners.

“Coco plays a key role in helping us connect with those younger Gen-Z business owners — emerging or younger entrepreneurs,” Betsy Wilson, VP of digital marketing and brand activation at UPS, said in a phone interview.

“Obviously, she’s very relevant in social media and in culture, and working with Coco helps us really connect with that younger group.”

While Grede helped the entrepreneurs, Gauff also got the opportunity to pick up tips.

“It's really cool to learn from someone like her,” Gauff said. “Whenever I feel like I’m ready to make that leap, I can definitely reach out to her for advice and things like that. ... This will help me right now and definitely in the long term.”