Alan Shearer is shocked that Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe was reportedly overlooked for the England job.
The English FA confirmed Thomas Tuchel as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor on Wednesday. The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss will begin the role in January, with coach Anthony Barry joining the England camp as his assistant. Current interim boss Lee Carsley will remain in charge for next month’s international break.
Tuchel, who won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021, has been without a job since parting ways with Bayern Munich last season. Despite England’s high-profile appointment, Shearer expressed his disbelief that Newcastle manager Howe wasn’t top of the FA’s list.
“It’s happened so quickly, hasn’t it? [Lineker] said that perhaps there was a reason why Lee Carsley was ruling himself out because practically that’s what he did,” Shearer said on the Rest is Football podcast. “Maybe you were right in that he knew something we all didn’t know.
“I really hope they’ve spoken to English managers. I’m told they didn’t speak to Eddie Howe, or they didn’t sound him out at all, I’m reliably told, which is a big surprise for me considering he would be the outstanding English candidate.”
Since taking the reins at Newcastle nearly three years ago, Howe has performed a remarkable turnaround, initially guiding the team to safety before propelling them back into the Champions League. Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola was touted with the England job, with Lineker claiming that the FA also approached Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, before Tuchel’s appointment.
Former England captain Shearer views Tuchel as a positive appointment but has raised concerns about the absence of homegrown candidates emerging from England’s St George’s Park centre or the Premier League. However, the decision works in Newcastle’s favour, with Shearer speculating that Manchester United’s interest in Tuchel may have accelerated the process.
“I think it’s happened so quickly that the FA thought, ‘We have to act here, or there’s a real chance we’re going to lose one of our outstanding candidates in Tuchel to a club management job’, and that could have happened really soon,” Shearer added. “I think that fits in with everything, why he would start in January and not immediately. They thought, ‘Let’s get this deal done now’.
“It would be a little bit of a concern. What’s the pathway for English coaches? If they’ve brought this centre along and want to promote English coaches…I’m happy in a way because Newcastle are not going to be losing their manager and he’s an outstanding manager. He would have been the main English candidate, for me, and to know that he hasn’t even been sounded out is very surprising.”