Newcastle bosses will reportedly assign Eddie Howe a key role after making a decision on his immediate future. The manager of the struggling Magpies has overseen a dismal run of just three wins from 10 league games. This leaves Newcastle at the bottom of the Premier League, seven points clear of the top five in the division with seven games remaining.
Howe is also said to be keen to oversee a rebuild in the summer, which is likely to involve a large turnover of players on both sides.
He will have a “key role” in the process, the Times said. The report adds that scouts were asked to look at all positions in the first team.
This comes just days after Newcastle chief executive David Hopkinson gave a wishful response when asked about Howe’s future at the club.
“I don’t have any stance on his future,” he said. “All I can say is that the derby loss hurt. We take it very seriously. There’s nothing in us that thinks, ‘Well, we’ve only got three points and we’ll move on.’ It resonated.”
“I recently had a few hours of one-on-one lunch with Eddie and we talked about this and many other things.
“Eddie is our manager. We’re expecting a great run here until the end of the season and we’ll talk about the future when the time is right. Right now we’re focused on competing this season.”
The report claims Mr Howe was surprised by these comments, given his apparent lack of support during the most difficult period of his tenure.
But since then, Mr Hopkinson is said to have assured Mr Howe he had no intention of stirring up speculation or undermining his position.
The manager, who is tied down until 2028, is currently focusing his efforts on preparing Newcastle for the Premier League with the aim of qualifying for Europe at the end of the season.
