SQUEAKY BUM TYNE

Howe hunted and shake-up at top ...these are tense times at Toon

- SIMON BIRD

EDDIE HOWE has gathered his Newcastle players and staff for a week-long training camp in Germany, at the Adidas HQ.

The early messaging is it is a big season ahead - fraught with early pitfalls and major uncertainties that can’t fester.

There are doubts around the future of Howe, who is being courted to succeed Gareth Southgate.

There are ownership changes, with front-woman Amanda Staveley gone, and a renewed push to invest promised.

These are the missions for Newcastle this pre-season:

KEEP EDDIE HOWE

Howe is the perfect man for England. So can Newcastle keep him? Howe can’t turn England down if they come calling. A historic job offer like that may only come once. It is the pinnacle.

Conversely, Howe loves the day-to-day coaching, is young-ish, has unfinished business at Newcastle and may conclude he’s better off with his long-term deal building a legacy on Tyneside.