Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has revealed he was not contacted by the Football Association (FA) over the England manager position prior to Thomas Tuchel’s hiring on Wednesday.
Howe had been touted as a potential replacement for Gareth Southgate, who left after Engand’s defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
Asked at his news conference on Friday if he had been approached for the position, Howe said: “I was not. There was no contact from the FA.”
The former Bournemouth boss added that he would have preferred to see an Englishman offered the role but ranked Tuchel as one of the world’s finest coaches.
“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,” Howe said.
“What a brilliant guy. What a great person. 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 refused to be drawn over whether the lack of contact irked him.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham told the BBC after Tuchel’s appointment that the organisation had interviewed “approximately 10 people” for the job, some English and some foreign, before choosing the German.
The former Paris Saint-Germain coach’s hiring has sparked debate in England over whether the national team coach should be English.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta confirmed he was also not one of the ten candidates approached by the FA but suggested the calibre of international managers interested in the role should be a point of pride for England fans.
“I understand the opinions and the feelings,” he said. “That’s the responsibility for the FA to say the first filter is only English managers or the filters are any manager from any country, and we select the best for the moment that we’re in right now.
“I understand that it can feel sad for some people not to have an English manager. History tells you how important this could be as well. I think I would take a lot of pride as well that a lot managers and a lot of people would do anything to be the England manager.
“That’s related to how we’re treated in this country as foreigners. How much we love the passion, the respect, the history and the way that things are done in this country. I can say personally that you feel so related to where you are even if you are not from here. I think there are very few countries that could say that.
“They’re going to learn a lot [from Tuchel]. He’s one of the best coaches in the world in my opinion, the way his teams are set up. It’s very exciting times. I spoke to a few of the players and they had a smile on their faces straight away. That’s a good sign.”
Arteta refused to be drawn on if he had ambitions to manage at international level but asked if he would only consider taking charge of his native Spain, he replied: “I look English! I’ve been here so long. I’ll tell you right now, the feeling I have, for me this is like home. I’ve been here for 22 years [having first joined Glasgow Rangers in 2002].
“I have that feeling towards it because I always feel respected, welcomed and inspired by this country and the history of football and how you get treated daily. I think that’s something you should be really proud of as a country.”
Arteta was blocked from playing for England when Fabio Capello explored the possibility of calling him up in 2010. He had played for Spain’s youth teams but hoped to qualify on the basis he had lived in England for five years having joined Everton in 2005, but FIFA insisted he required a British passport and so he was declared ineligible.
“I was thinking about that the other day — I was actually talking to [technical director] Edu about that at lunch,” Arteta said.
“Yeah, I would have done it [played for England]. I feel very proud about it. I was very realistic, looking at the players Spain had at the time, and how big a challenge I had. You need to know your level, that is very important. Look in the mirror. At the end it didn’t happen. But it was good, at least to think about it.
“If you cannot do it, you cannot do it. I wasn’t prepared to fight against the world.”
Information from ESPN’s James Olley contributed to this report.
