Jamie Carragher has delivered a strong warning to the Newcastle United owners, hinting this could be Eddie Howe’s final year at St James’ Park.
The Newcastle United manager is once again having to be a firefighter on Tyneside, overseeing a summer that has seen Paul Mitchell depart as sporting director and Alexander Isak want to leave.
The situation is a real mess, 12 months after Eddie Howe endured an equally challenging summer. 2024 saw Newcastle United restricted by PSR problems, with Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh sold. There was also the controversy surrounding Mitchell’s arrival, which created friction between him and the manager.
In 2025, Howe is untouchable on Tyneside. He is a trophy winner and a Champions League manager. However, he is still having to deal with chaos behind the scenes. A new sporting director has not been appointed, and neither has a chief executive to replace Darren Eales.
In the eyes of Jamie Carragher, Howe deserves better.
Jamie Carragher says Newcastle United are a ‘mess’ under PIF right now
Amid the chaos of the Isak situation and everything else going on at the club, Carragher has asked a key question about the Newcastle United owners on the latest episode of the Stick To Football podcast.
“Is there something around the ownership?” he asked.
“They’ve let Eddie Howe down. You look at the mess at that club in terms of directors of football. They haven’t got anybody there. They’ve lost two in the last two years.
“I know PSR issues, they can’t really solve that. But there’s talk of the stadium, the stadium is still the same. I don’t think the training ground’s improved. These are things that you can maybe invest in going forward.”
While a new Newcastle United training ground has not been built, improvements have been made to the Magpies’ current base during the PIF era.
In terms of Newcastle United’s new stadium plans, an official update was expected at the end of the 2024/25 season. However, that was not forthcoming, with Newcastle delaying stadium plans.
Jamie Carragher suggests this could be Eddie Howe’s last season at Newcastle United
Worryingly, Carragher then suggested that Howe might not be at St James’ Park for much longer.
That is because the England job is set to be available again next summer, with Thomas Tuchel due to leave after the 2026 World Cup.
Carragher suggests that is something that could be on Howe’s radar, stating that he has potentially taken Newcastle United as far as he can.
“I was thinking about Eddie Howe,” he added.
“I love Eddie Howe. I think he is a brilliant manager and I’m looking at England in the summer, Tuchel leaves after the World Cup doesn’t he? Eddie Howe has won a trophy, he’s got to the Champions League twice in the last three years.
“I’m not quite sure he can go any further forward. And don’t forget he had to deal with all this last summer. He couldn’t buy any players last summer, they had to sell players they didn’t want to sell because of PSR issues.
“Has an amazing season. He’s got this on his plate now. He’s going into another season, he’s got Champions League football. I do think of the England job, I’m thinking one more season at Newcastle.”
Howe was linked with the England job last summer following Gareth Southgate’s departure. There was a real fear from Toon fans that he could be poached by the FA.
However, Howe was not interested in the England job. In turn, the FA did not approach Howe, which came as a surprise.
In terms of going further with Newcastle United, there is plenty for Howe to do. He will have his eyes on more trophies and stronger performances in Europe, despite already cementing his position as a Newcastle United legend.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
