Newcastle cancelled interviews with managers, thinking they’d secured Emery

What a mess

Newcastle United cancelled their final round of interviews with managerial candidates to succeed the recently sacked Steve Bruce, having felt so confident that they had secured Unai Emery, The Mirror report. The former Arsenal boss was in talks with the club's new Saudi owners before announcing on social media that he would remain at La Liga side Villarreal, unconvinced by the long term strategy in Newcastle - or lack thereof. The disparity between candidates Newcastle were looking at was reportedly a significant part of his apprehension, with the two favourites being himself, with four Europa League titles to his name, and Eddie Howe, who was most recently relegated with Bournemouth. Not exactly an indication of joined up thinking at board level. "No matter how much noise there was yesterday in another country, within the club there was transparency and loyalty with the Roig family and with my squad, which is maximum and for me it is the most important thing," he wrote. "Villarreal CF is my home and I am 100% committed." He was also probably put off by the termination clause Newcastle reportedly insisted upon if the side were to get relegated this season. Howe is now favourite to take over at St James' Park, and will be tasked with keeping the club in the top flight to avoid a significant set back in their long term vision of winning the biggest trophies.