Wednesday night saw Newcastle suffer a 4-1 defeat to Bristol City in their second pre-season friendly of the summer, in what will be Howe’s final match in charge of the club. While Gordon opened the scoring for his team just 10 minutes into play, Chemsdine Talbi levelled matters early in the second-half.
It suddenly emerged on Thursday morning that Howe would be leaving his role as Magpies boss, which sees his five-year spell at St James’ Park come to an end. Howe is understood to have left the Magpies after five years in charge, with the 48-year-old’s exit coming just hours after a 4-1 pre-season defeat to Bristol City. Those doubts will only have grown after watching the vultures gut his squad this summer. And he shared his final decision with staff members hours after a 4-1 pre-season humbling at Bristol City on Wednesday.
The head coach essentially 'had a change of heart' regarding his desire to guide the club into the new season, notified the board and subsequently departed once arrangements were underway for a replacement. David Ornstein has reported that Howe is set to take a break from football following five years with the Magpies, despite all parties agreeing to continue initially. With an official announcement now imminent, we can now reveal that Howe first informed sporting director Ross Wilson weeks ago that he had reached the decision to step away from the role.