Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP

Who will be the next Newcastle Manager?

St. James Park is looking for the next Newcastle Manager: after more than a year of speculation, the sale of Newcastle United has finally become a reality. With this, the wish of Newcastle United fans all over the world to get rid of Mike Ashley has finally come true.

The new owners of the club are the Saudi Arabian investment fund PIF (Public Investment Fund). They will now use their vast fortune, together with British businesswoman Amanda Staveley and others, to attempt turning Newcastle into one of the world’s leading clubs.

There are many indications that one of the first steps towards this goal will be to replace the current manager. Steve Bruce is not very popular with the club’s fans, to say the least. Newcastle are also currently threatened with an existence at the bottom of the table. Relegation to the Championship would mean a disastrous start to the new era.

The candidates for the Newcastle Manager role

Newcastle’s new owners, as already mentioned, have almost unlimited funds at their disposal. Of course, this does not mean that there will be a blank cheque for the acquisition of star players from the outset.

It will be a gradual process. But it is obviously an attractive project for many managers, as a look at the immediate field of candidates shows.

Lucien Favre

Lucien Favre is considered one of the favourites in the race to become Newcastle’s new manager. The 63-year-old Swiss was most recently manager of Dortmund, until his sacking in December 2020. Before that, he worked at clubs such as Hertha Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Nice.

He is known for his attacking style of play, which Newcastle fans are eagerly anticipating after just over a year under Steve Bruce. However, the argument against Favre is that he was not exactly a friend of Newcastle’s current French international Allan Saint-Maximin during his time at Nice.

Brendan Rodgers

Also among the main candidates is Brendan Rodgers, who was very successful at Leicester. They came close to qualifying for the Champions League twice. Furthermore, he won the FA Cup with the Foxes last season.

What speaks in favour of Rodgers leaving Leicester for Newcastle is the fact that there will be almost unlimited funds available in the long term. It might be difficult for him to achieve much more at Leicester, so a new project at Newcastle could well be attractive to the Northern Irishman.

Antonio Conte

Arguably the biggest name on the market is Antonio Conte. The Italian left Inter after last season in which he had led the club to the championship. The reason for his departure was reportedly that he disagreed with the club’s transfer policy, selling several big profiles such as Romelu Lukaku.

Conte, of course, already has Premier League experience from his time at Chelsea, where he was manager for two seasons. There he won a championship and an also snatched a FA Cup triumph. In other words, this is a manager from the absolute top shelf. The question, however, is whether Newcastle can sign him at this early stage of the project, when things like FFP (Financial Fair Play) are still limiting options in the transfer market.

Outsiders for the Newcastle Manager role

Also on the list is another former Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard. Lampard was sacked in January 2021 after a difficult period at the club. However, his first season at Chelsea was a success. Especially his ability to bring in players from the academy was impressive. Chelsea finished the season in fourth place despite a ban on buying new players.

Belgian coach Roberto Martínez is also a possible choice. He has been Belgium coach for five years after his period at Everton. He has spent most of his professional football career in the UK, which is obviously a plus. However, the question is whether Martinez will want to start another, perhaps ultimate attempt for the world cup title with the golden generation of Belgium.