Newcastle’s Eddie Howe has revealed he had not contact from the FA regarding replacing Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Howe has regularly been linked with becoming England manager and was named as a frontrunner to replace Southgate.
However, the 46-year-old was overlooked for the position with Thomas Tuchel appointed this week, as the FA opted for a foreign coach. Tuchel becomes just the third foreign head coach in England’s history, after Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello.
Although he said he would prefer an English coach in charge of the Three Lions, Howe hailed Tuchel as a ‘great appointment’ and backed the ex-Chelsea boss for success.
“I’ve got a relationship with Thomas and I was lucky enough to go and see him work at Chelsea when I was out of work. What a brilliant guy. What a great person,” Howe said at a pre-match press conference ahead of Newcastle’s clash with Brighton.
“What a great coach. I had two days with him and thought he was fascinating and I wish him well. I think he’s a great appointment and I hope he leads England to many trophies.
“My preference would have been for an English coach but if you are going to go foreign then go for the best and Thomas is certainly that.”
Howe confirmed he received no approach from the FA regarding the role and said his focus is ‘100%’ on success at Newcastle.
Howe: ‘England have to do what is right for them’
“England have to do what is right for them and only they will know the processes they have gone through and the decisions they have made and I am certainly not the type of person that is going to analyse that.
“For me it’s about Newcastle and trying to win games and it’s hard enough to do that if you are 100% focused and I will always remain that way to my work. If you drop your levels then the job becomes impossible and at no stage have I allowed myself to do that.”
