Newcastle’s sporting director, Ross Wilson, has revealed he began planning at the start of this year for Eddie Howe’s departure. Howe stepped down as manager in late July and the club turned to Matthias Jaissle, who had been identified as the preferred successor. Wilson, who arrived on Tyneside from Nottingham Forest, said: “Eddie leaving didn’t feel chaotic and it didn’t feel painful.
Eddie would be the first to tell you that. I came here 10 or 11 months ago and I’ve been planning in the background for a managerial change over eight or nine of those months. That doesn’t mean we were always going to go to Matthias, but he was always part of our planning.” When Wilson began making contingency plans, Howe seemed more likely to be poached than to resign or be dismissed.
Yet Newcastle’s 12th-place finish last season raised questions about his future and, after the sales of Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali, Howe decided he wanted out. He’s a club legend, for sure.” No one had envisaged parting with Howe three weeks before the season. We had to be prepared for that.” With Newcastle having entered a settlement agreement with Uefa after breaching European spending rules last season, selling Gordon and Tonali for almost £170m proved essential but Wilson admitted that offloading Bruno Guimarães to Arsenal for £75m was one sale he never wanted to complete.
That was really disappointing. But everything else that happened during the window was planned. That doesn’t mean every single player [who signed] was the No 1 name on our list.
Clearly we were disappointed a couple of times but that’s normal. No club reaches the end of a window getting every target they wanted.” Wilson has presided over the acquisition of eight players aged 24 and younger this summer, including Guimarães’s replacement, the £52m midfielder Nico González, signed from Manchester City. They have in common a suitability for the high-intensity pressing game choreographed, in different forms, by Howe and Jaissle.
It was really, really clear.” Cue what Wilson described as a “busy” summer. So it was really, really busy. But good fun as well.” Wilson’s summer overhaul involved agreeing new contracts with key players including Lewis Miley and Harvey Barnes and now Lewis Hall has agreed a new five-year deal.
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