Players and supporters will be reeling from yet another blow in a summer that's completely flipped the script that had been written when the Magpies were taken over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
An awful 12 months
Though any anger from those who follow Newcastle up and down the country in their thousands would be understandable, the collective feeling won't be anything like when the club had finally reached its nadir under Mike Ashley.
And yet, in the space of five years, the club have gone from being lauded as the 'richest club in the world' with genuine aspirations of a Premier League title within five years of PIF's tenure beginning, to a club that has sold off all its major playing assets in the space of the last 12 months.
After the Premier League changed its Financial Fair Play rules to ensure that no club owners could just hoover up talent at any price, the slide arguably began.
It's to Howe's great credit that he was able to not only bring Champions League football back to St. James' Park, but also ensure that the club had its best day in 70 years, when the Magpies defeated Liverpool at Wembley to win the Carabao Cup in 2025.
However, the cracks really began to appear when star striker Alexander Isak decided to force through a move to Liverpool, with Howe seemingly powerless to stop it.
Gordon and Tonali gone
The silence from the board at the time was deafening, and perhaps even then, Howe knew that the writing was on the wall for any further aspirations that he and his backroom staff may have had.
After what was a disappointing 2025/26 season for the club, which saw them finish 12th and unable to qualify for European competition, there were always likely to be repercussions, though the scale of Newcastle's summer sales to date has been shocking to say the least.
Kieran Trippier had already bid goodbye to the club at the back end of last season before, out of nowhere, came Anthony Gordon's signing by Barcelona.
If that wasn't hard enough for the Geordie faithful to swallow, Sandro Tonali's move to Tottenham, a team that only retained their Premier League status on the last day of the 25/26 campaign, soon followed.
Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal?
What must that move in particular say about what's going on behind the scenes at Newcastle?
A star player not just moving to a league rival, but one who finished below them, and who has been beset by issues of their own over the past couple of seasons.
With the knowledge that captain Bruno Guimaraes was also angling for a move to Arsenal, something the board appeared only too willing to accede to, that was seemingly too much for Howe to bear.
It's understood that he tendered his resignation in mid-July but had kept the announcement quiet until the club had found a replacement.
Al-Ahli's Matthias Jaissle has been identified as that man, leading to the news that Howe was taking a break from football, though Jaissle's appointment, with respect, can't be more underwhelming for the Toon Army.
Matthias Jaissle an unknown quantity in the Premier League
To date, he has managed only the Saudi Pro League outfit, Red Bull Salzburg and FC Liefering. Whilst he won trophies with two of the three and also led Liefering to their joint highest-ever finish, none of his exploits could be considered to be on a par with managing a Premier League club with such lofty expectations, and who are now shorn of almost all of their best players.
Jaissle should at least probably be given the benefit of the doubt to begin with by supporters who have every right to question what's happening with their club at present.
As for PIF, they were only too happy to grant interviews and show the media around when things were looking up for the Magpies, but the board have been conspicuous by their absence of late.
The club certainly cannot countenance a return to the dark days of a few years ago, but they're now about as far away from a maiden Premier League title as they were then.
As for what happens next, only PIF can answer that question, but answer it they must.
Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.
