Alan Shearer Reacts to Eddie Howe's Departure from Newcastle United
Alan Shearer does not shock easily around Newcastle United. He has seen relegations, near-misses, false dawns and full-blown crises. But Eddie Howe walking away three weeks before a new season? That stopped him in his tracks.
Speaking to Betfair, the club’s record goalscorer admitted he was “very, very surprised” by the news that Howe is stepping down after nearly five years in charge. The timing jars. The mood jars. The whole thing, to Shearer, feels off.
“I guess it's strange timing with three weeks to go until the new season kicks off,” he said, voicing what most of Tyneside is thinking. He made no attempt to dress it up. He simply doesn’t know what has pushed Howe to this point.
“I don't know what's gone on, whether it was the end of last season, whether it was the summer, whether he feels they can't continue to sell his best players. I’m led to believe it was Eddie’s decision to leave.”
That last line lands heavily. If this really is Howe choosing to walk, then something inside the project has shifted. The club that once felt like the perfect fit for him now looks, from the outside, unsettled and stripped of its certainty.
A manager who changed everything
Shearer, though, was not in the mood to pick over politics before paying his respects. Howe inherited a team staring down the barrel of relegation in 2021 and left with a major trophy in his pocket and Champions League nights back on Tyneside. That journey has left a deep mark on the fanbase — and on the club’s greatest No 9.
“What I would say is thank you. Thank you to Eddie for what he's given us,” Shearer said. “He gave me my best day as a Newcastle fan with that day at Wembley. He's given us some incredible nights in the Champions League that we'll never ever forget.”
The Carabao Cup triumph in 2025 ended a 70-year wait for a major trophy. The statistic is cold; the memory is anything but. For Shearer, that afternoon at Wembley sits at the very top of his personal Newcastle experiences. That is not a sentence he offers lightly.
“He did a wonderful job for Newcastle. It's been an incredible ride,” he added. “I think the job that he did was unbelievable from where he took us when he came, there was a real threat of relegation. He steadied the ship. He then got us climbing the league. He then brought in some wonderful players. He then took us to a final; we got beaten in that final, but then took us back again and gave us the day that we've so craved for.
“Whatever happens now, the Geordies will always be grateful for what he gave us that day.”
From survival to top-four contention, from a fractured dressing room to a unified, high-energy side, Howe rewired the club. The sense that Newcastle were finally going somewhere under him was not an illusion. It was lived, week after week, under the lights at St James’ Park.
Stars sold, belief eroding
Now, as Howe heads for the exit, the squad he helped build is being broken apart. That is what really worries Shearer.
“I don’t think it’s a great look for what's happening at the minute with Newcastle,” he said. “We're selling all our best players. The fans are seeing [Alexander] Isak go, the fans are seeing [Sandro] Tonali go, the fans are seeing [Anthony] Gordon go.”
Each departure chips away at the idea of a rising force. Take away the manager as well, and the picture darkens quickly.
“My guess is it’s probably only a matter of time before Bruno [Guimaraes] goes, because he'll look at what's happening with all those players and look at what's happening with Eddie and think, 'Well, from a personal point of view, from his point of view, I guess I'm going to be next.'”
That is the fear: that Howe’s departure is not the end of the turbulence but the trigger for the next wave. Elite players do not ignore signals like this. They read them, they weigh them, and they act.
A huge job for the next man
Into that storm, Newcastle are expected to drop a 38-year-old head coach still making his way in the game. Reports have installed Al-Ahli boss Matthias Jaissle as the frontrunner, a coach with success in Austria and Saudi Arabia but no experience of the Premier League’s intensity.
Shearer’s message on that front was clear: do not turn Jaissle into a punchbag before he has even walked through the door.
“I think we have to be careful if that is the case not to pile on,” he warned. “Clearly, he's very young and inexperienced. The Premier League is a beast of a league. It's a big ask for anyone to come in and take over after what Eddie's done.”
That last point matters. Whoever follows Howe will not just be replacing a manager. He will be stepping into the shadow of the man who ended a trophy drought stretching back seven decades and restored pride to a restless city. There are softer landings in football.
From euphoria to unease
Strip it back and Shearer’s verdict on his club is simple: Newcastle need to calm down. Quickly.
“What I would like is stability,” he said. “I would like to keep hold of our better players, but I understand, and I get that from their point of view now, that they'll be looking at the situation and thinking, 'Hang on a minute, what's going on at this football club?' And I get that and understand that. So, I would like some stability.”
Stability. Once, under Howe, it felt like Newcastle finally had it. Now, with key players leaving and the architect of the revival walking away on the eve of a new campaign, that sense of order has vanished.
The club’s next decisions — on the dugout, on the transfer market, on the direction of the project — will decide whether Howe’s Wembley high was the start of something lasting, or just a glorious, fleeting peak before another era of upheaval.
