Eddie Howe denies being contacted by FA for England job, Pep Guardiola remains non-committal

LONDON – Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe revealed on Oct 18 that he was not approached by the Football Association during their search for a new England manager, ultimately leading to the selection of Thomas Tuchel.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who was widely reported to have been sounded out for the post, was less upfront.

Asked if he had conversations about the England job on Oct 18, he said bluntly: “Thomas Tuchel is the manager. So forget about it. I am the manager of Man City. The conversations I have is with Man City.”

The FA announced on Oct 16 that the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager would be the permanent successor to Gareth Southgate, taking up his post from January.

FA chief executive officer Mark Bullingham said the governing body had “interviewed approximately 10 people” including some English candidates, before opting for the German.

Howe, one of only a handful of English managers in the English Premier League, was arguably the strongest home-grown candidate.

But when asked at his pre-match press conference whether he had been interviewed for the position, he said: “No, I wasn’t.”

Howe, whose team host Brighton & Hove Albion on Oct 19, said there had been no contact from the FA.

The Newcastle boss said he was glad the “distraction” over who would succeed Southgate was at an end, but that he might be interested in the future.

“There was no one more pleased than me to see Thomas get the job, really, and take it because it’s just a distraction – not that it distracts me, but you can see it’s unsettling at times when certain things are said and written about,” he said.

“The more that everyone can focus on Newcastle, which has always been my only concern, the better.”

Asked whether he might be interested one day, Howe said: “Who knows? I’ve always said that you can never predict what’s going to happen in management, you can never plan too far ahead. I certainly don’t.”

Howe was asked whether it bothered him that there had been no contact from the FA.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “England have to do what is right for them and only they will know the processes they’ve gone through and the decisions that they’ve made, and I’m certainly not the type of person that’s going to analyse that.”

It was reported on Oct 18 that the FA had been put off interviewing Howe by a hefty compensation payment that would have been due to Newcastle if they had appointed him.