Gary Neville has a major concern regarding the FA’s decision to appoint Thomas Tuchel as England manager over someone like Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe.
The Newcastle United manager was heavily linked with the job, with Eddie Howe emerging as a target for the FA immediately after Gareth Southgate stepped down from his role.
Since then there has been plenty of speculation about Eddie Howe and the England job, much to the frustration of Newcastle United fans.
Gary Neville even called on Howe to push for the England job, at a time when there was unrest behind the scenes at St James’ Park between the Toon boss and sporting director Paul Mitchell.
But the FA have decided to appoint Tuchel, bringing in a foreign manager rather than an English one.
Gary Neville namedrops Eddie Howe as he questions FA decision
And that is where the problem lies for Gary Neville, who has spoken to Sky Sports about England appointing the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager.
“I think there are some serious questions for the FA to answer in respect of English coaching,” he said.
“I do think that we are damaging ourselves, accepting that Thomas Tuchel is better than any of the other English candidates.
“With the likes of Graham Potter, who has managed in the higher echelons of the Premier League, we’ve got Eddie Howe currently at Newcastle. I do think there are outstanding candidates that could have been appointed that are English.”
Newcastle United will be grateful that the FA opted against an English manager
Neville makes an interesting point. It does not reflect well on English coaching that the FA have decided to appoint a foreign manager.
However, out of the options that were available, Thomas Tuchel was the outstanding candidate. He is a manager that knows how to win trophies, and that is exactly what England need ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
In comparison, the last time an English manager won a domestic trophy was 2008 when Harry Redknapp guided Portsmouth to FA Cup glory.
There is no doubt that Eddie Howe would have been an excellent England manager. In terms of Englishmen, he is the best manager around today. But he simply was not available. It was reported that the FA would have had to pay Newcastle more than £5million in compensation to appoint Howe.
That is clearly something that the FA were not prepared to do, with Alan Shearer stating that the FA did not approach Howe about the England job.
Elsewhere, it had been claimed that Howe was not interested in becoming England manager, and was instead happy to continue in his role at St James’ Park. Perhaps that is why the FA did not make a move for the 46-year-old.
But while the state of English coaching is debated following England’s appointment of Thomas Tuchel, Newcastle United will be grateful that Howe is going nowhere.
The appointment of Tuchel means that the speculation can end, and Newcastle fans no longer need to worry about Howe being lured away.
While Gary Neville may believe that the FA’s appointment of Tuchel is damaging for English managers, everyone associated with Newcastle United will not care one bit.
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