Eddie Howe has been backed for the England job by Emile Heskey, who says the former Newcastle United manager would be the best fit if Thomas Tuchel leaves St George's Park. The former England striker also offered a defence of Tuchel, insisting the current boss will learn from the mistakes that cost the Three Lions in their World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina.
Howe is out of work after surprisingly ending his five-year spell at Newcastle United less than three weeks before the new Premier League season kicks off on August 21. The North East club have endured a torrid time with their best players poached amid their battle to meet financial fair play requirements.
Alexander Isak completed a British-record £125million switch to Liverpool last summer, while Anthony Gordon moved to Barcelona and Sandro Tonali joined Tottenham Hotspur. Now Bruno Guimaraes has been linked with a St James' Park exit, with Arsenal reportedly set to make a £70m offer for the Brazilian midfielder.
Heskey on Howe's Newcastle exit
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Football, Heskey said the situation at Newcastle is difficult for everyone. "It's obviously not great for the players, not great for the club," he said. "I think he would have seen something and looked at how far he's brought them, and he's done a fantastic job to bring them to where he's brought them, but there is a ceiling, I think, within the club."
"And then missing out on transfers and not being able to get the players that he wants, and still having to try and push for Champions League, still trying to push for more and more," Heskey added. "I think he's just probably looked at it and said he's taken them as far as you possibly can within the confines of financial fair play and what the club can actually do."
"He's done a fantastic job, to be honest. He's won a trophy and that's one of the things that the club would have put on him and he's done that."
Howe for England?
Howe has previously been linked with the England job and worked with FA chief football officer Dan Ashworth at Newcastle. Heskey believes the 48-year-old is the standout candidate. "The reality is that he's the best fit," he said. "When you're looking at an English manager with the best CV and the most experience. The only thing is, it's one thing being a club manager when you're so used to being with the players 24/7, moulding them into what you want."
"Then you're bringing them all from different places and trying to integrate them and get them to play the way that you want within 10 days. It's very tough. He will have some time off because I don't think Tuchel's going anywhere too soon."
Asked about Howe's next move, Heskey said: "If you're looking at club management, I would have definitely said Chelsea would have been a decent fit before they got [Xabi] Alonso. I think he does really well with younger players."
"He pushes them and drives them to do the best and not rest on their laurels. A lot of young lads, can at times rest on their laurels: 'We've done good, we've had one good game.' No, he will be pushing them. It's not one good game. It's a whole career. He's definitely one of those who will push them."
Newcastle's rebuild
Newcastle are expected to appoint Al-Ahli boss Matthias Jaissle as Howe's successor. The German has a huge task to restore confidence before their season opener at home to Liverpool on August 23.
Heskey drew comparisons with Aston Villa, who have also had to sell players to balance the books. "There was so much promise when the owners came in because they've got so much money to spend, but they can't spend the money," he said. "You've got to balance the books and balancing the books means actually selling some of your best players."
"Aston Villa are in a similar boat. They're having to sell so many of the best young players; you don't really want to sell them, but it's just to balance the books. That's the tough side of it, where you're sitting there with an owner that wants to buy players, wants to invest money, but just can't do it."
"They've got a really huge fan base up there. They get their stadium rocking, but they just can't spend the money that they would want to do to challenge with the top four. Become the force that [Manchester] City are."
Asked where Newcastle will finish, Heskey said: "It's difficult to say where they will be this season. Mid-table will probably be good. When you're just losing all your best players, mid-table is probably going to be your best ask."
"It's gonna be tough and it's going to be a lot of pressure on some of these young lads, and it's sad that they're having to sell in the way that they're having to sell."
Tuchel's England future
England's 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina has brought criticism of Tuchel's approach, with the Three Lions having led through Anthony Gordon. Heskey, however, insists the players must also share responsibility.
"Look, everyone's disappointed," he said. "You've got to remember there's sometimes mentality and sometimes thought process, everything just goes out the window. This is where I say we need leaders as well, because you can tell me one thing and if it's difficult, if it's different on the pitch, I've got to be able to change that myself."
"I've played in teams where we change certain things because it's just not working and you could see it wasn't working. So why not change it? Why not, on the pitch, change it? I'm a centre forward. I hold the ball up, and I run the channels. I make and create fouls."
"I give ourselves a little bit of breathing space. We didn't have any of that. Everything kept on coming back in."
"It's common sense sometimes and I'm not blaming the players as such, but they've got to take some blame as well. They've got to be held accountable as well because you're on the pitch. Sometimes I might see something from the side that is totally different to when you're actually in the heat of the battle, and you need those leaders to say, 'do this, step up there,' because you just hold the ball up, just do this or just do that."
"I played with lower teams, so we've had to do that. Playing against bigger teams and you're winning 1-0, and you're thinking how are we going to hold on to this? You do that up there; we'll do this here. Make sure you win this. Make sure you do that, and you're just constantly marshalling each other around."
Heskey also defended Tuchel, who has faced calls for his sacking. "I don't think he's done a bad job if I'm honest with you. I think he picked the right players," he said. "There might have been a case of having, maybe a Harry Maguire. If it's right at the death, there's someone who's going to put their head on the ball, I'm pretty sure he would have."
"But he chose who he chose. He stood by that and you've got to respect that. We got to the semifinals. Maybe a little bit of a change in mentality, and he understands the mentality of the players more and more now in those dark situations where your back's against the wall."
"I'm disappointed because you want to go to the final, but I'm not disappointed in the same way as everyone else is."
Heskey is helping to front a football safety app that tackles online and matchday abuse through real-time reporting. Organisations, leagues, clubs and supporter groups can register their interest at footballsafetyapp.com.
