Newcastle managerial shock: Eddie Howe's legacy, Bruno's future, the PL season — and who's Matthias Jaissle?

Eddie Howe leaving Newcastle United — given the timing of his exit and this writer's status with a summer flu, I hope I can be forgiven for wondering if I was having a fever dream. Yet it's true. The second-longest tenured manager in the Premier League — hired on November 8, 2021 — is no longer holding that title as Howe has left the Magpies about a month before the start of the 2026-27 season (Unai Emery is now second to Mikel Arteta, ironically enough). MORE — Pochettino ‘close’ to new USMNT deal Attack-minded boss Matthias Jaissle is set to take the gig, according to reports , but there are questions well beyond the new boss as Howe has changed his mind within months of agreeing to oversee the overhaul of the team following a wildly-disappointing second half of the 2025-26 season, which saw the Magpies fail to assert themselves in a wide-open race for European places. It was thought that this season could give a runway back to Europe thanks to the sheer volume of Premier League clubs participating in continental competitions while Newcastle merely had the domestic cups on top of the league campaign. That's still true but a summer of discontent that still has one huge dark cloud looming above may have soured Howe on the gig. Eddie Howe leaving Newcastle raises a red flag — but how big is that flag? Had Howe left in May, it wouldn't feel like as big of a deal. Yes, he's a club legend who ended an ages-long wait for a trophy and is likely to get a statue or some other major St. James' Park honor one day. But last season was poor outside of the UEFA Champions League and it spiraled in terrible fashion. His player use was strange and his in-game moves predictable most of the time and head-scratching almost always. Usage of Nick Woltemade and Lewis Hall alone could've led to a solid dissertation on team dynamics. Once the Magpies agreed to keep going with Howe, though, it was time to rally around a good, steady manager. Now, that good, steady manager has said, "No, thanks," and that's a massive, massive worry even as reports say it was simply about energy levels. Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali were sold for huge money, the former more understandable than the latter but at fees that could easily salve the wounds opened by their exits. Bruno Guimaraes has consistently been linked with Arsenal, though every rumor indicates an unsavory "no club-to-club contact" as another star's been unsettled. Given the Magpies have bought young midfielders who could become elite, losing veteran Guimaraes — a talisman more important than Howe anyway — in addition to Howe would be oh-so-troubling to a team that has pledged to be a title challenger by 2030. Veteran The Chronicle reporter Lee Ryder says the split is amicable and that Howe feels the need for a break from football. If there's nothing more to it, fine. But one has to wonder whether he'd feel as weary if the project didn't just add the onus of training young players to replace at least two more Premier League stars. Eddie Howe is set to take a break from football.

Newcastle United are understood to have been working on an exit plan for the last TWO weeks.

His exit is an amicable one and his first indication that he wanted to leave came at the start of pre-season training. #NUFC
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) July 30, 2026 Bruno Guimaraes status now the difference between European challengers and bottom half woes Say what you will about Howe's seeming reticence to trust new players regardless of price tag and his loyalty to 'his' players during prolonger slumps in performance, but he was still a manager who was going to keep teams in the fight. But a big part of that is Guimaraes, who was a massive capture when the Magpies acquired him and is genuinely one of the most complete midfielders in the world. He had been linked with Real Madrid before Arsenal and some reports say the Gunners are on the verge of agreeing an $107 million deal for the 48-times capped Brazilian set to turn 29 in November. Guimaraes joined Newcastle in 2022, and he's made 195 appearances with 31 goals and 32 assists. Famously, they have a Premier League record of 2W-5D-9L when he doesn't play, a poor run that began with 12 winless affairs. In all comps, they are 6W-7D-12L without Guimaraes across all comps. Three of those losses saw Newcastle bounced from competitions. Simply put — if Bruno stays in town and healthy, the Magpies will compete through any growing pains for young Sean Steur, Aladji Bamba, and Bazoumana Traore. If he leaves without a veteran replacement of high quality, the team will struggle to consistently connect the game together. Who is Matthias Jaissle and what would Al-Ahli coach bring to Newcastle? Should reports be true that Matthias Jaissle, the 38-year-old German who currently leads Saudi side Al-Ahli after a strong run in the Red Bull family with Salzburg and Liefering. As a player, center back Jaissle came through the Stuttgart academy and played for Hoffenheim from 2007-2014. He took his first steps in management with Liefering in 2021, soon taking over for Jesse Marsch at Salzburg and leading the side to its first Champions League knockout phase. He won the Austrian Bundesliga in both of his seasons there, then went to Al-Ahli and won consecutive Asian Champions League Elite trophies. Jaissle prefers a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-1-2 and Newcastle have the players to do that well especially if Guimaraes stays in the fold. The 4-3-1-2 was effective for him as a clear underdog in Salzburg's most memorable results across the Champions League — draws at Chelsea and Sevilla, home draws with Bayern Munich and AC Milan, and wins over Sevilla, Wolfsburg, and Lille. Let's imagine, though, a 4-2-3-1 as Newcastle are not minnows in the Premier League. They'd be able to roll with Nick Pope or Ewen Jaouen in goal (for the moment). Lewis Hall, Sven Botman, Malick Thiaw, and Tino Livramento make for a good back four with Dan Burn, Fabian Schar, and Jacob Murphy each capable of providing a twist. Aladji Bamba, Lewis Miley, Sean Steur, Joelinton, Jacob Ramsey, and Bruno Guimaraes give many options in central midfield, while Harvey Barnes, Anthony Elanga, Bazoumana Traore and Murphy provide explosiveness on the wings and Nick Woltemade is joined at forward by Yoane Wissa and William Osula. The big winners are probably Woltemade and Elanga. The German forward showed a lot early in the season but Howe struggled to figure out a forward who was so capable of being a dropped-deep, hold-up playmaker. Elanga looked solid at the World Cup and could be one of the redemptive stories of this PL season as it's difficult to imagine that a level playing field for evaluation will see a new boss preferring Joe Willock or even Murphy as strongly as Howe did late last season. Eddie Howe’s legacy secure (if it was ever in doubt) Any Newcastle fan who traversed the managerial roller coaster under Mike Ashley will revere Howe even if they've sometimes found fault with him. Sam Allardyce being replaced by Kevin Keegan (rest in peace, legend) soon led to Joe Kinnear — who famously struggled with his players names like Yohan Kebab and Hatem ben Afrie — in a press conference. Chris Hughton got the club promoted and Alan Pardew got them to Europe but John Carver, Steve McClaren, and Steve Bruce were miserable at the gig and the club let Rafa Benitez leave to appoint the latter! Howe arrived and just did the job. He treated the club like not just a regional power but a hibernating bear. The PIF takeover money helped but rich clubs have failed in similar scenarios. And while last season did threaten anyone but the most passionate Howe fans, he was always going to leave the club with that memorable League Cup run and two Champions League campaigns. Howe did look weary last season and it seems likely his hospitalization with pneumonia and return from it took a lot out of him. Deciding it's time to go is no shame, especially now. It's a smart and classy move that he stuck with the gig while the club found its new leader. At 48, he'll be back soon and likely with a big club (or country). His ceiling can be re-evaluated at that point, but the time with Newcastle cannot be questioned with real sincerity. He brought respect and Europe back to a truly big English club. LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 16: Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe celebrates with the trophy after during the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium on March 16, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) Getty Images