Alan Shearer has delivered a heartfelt tribute to departing Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe — and a stark warning about what lies ahead for the club.

Writing for BBC Sport, the Toon legend described Howe's tenure as transformative, crediting him with delivering the moment he had waited a lifetime for: the Carabao Cup triumph at Wembley in 2025.

"Thank you, Eddie Howe. You gave me the best day of my life as a Newcastle fan," Shearer wrote.

A legacy built from the bottom

Howe took charge in November 2021 with Newcastle rooted in 19th place in the Premier League, five points from safety after 11 games. He kept them up that season, then guided the club to fourth, seventh, and fifth-place finishes in the three campaigns that followed — with memorable nights in the UEFA Champions League along the way.

Shearer acknowledged that last season's 12th-place finish was a disappointment but refused to lay any blame at Howe's door, pointing instead to the summer exodus of key players — most notably Alexander Isak's departure — and the club's failure to land their primary transfer targets as the root cause.

Selling stars, missing targets

The timing of Howe's exit — three weeks into pre-season, with the Premier League just three weeks away — struck Shearer as the biggest surprise. He believes Howe's decision was shaped in part by watching his best players leave one after another: first Isak, then Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali this summer, with Bruno Guimaraes' future also shrouded in uncertainty.

"You cannot keep on selling your best players and then hope to be in contention at the top of the table," Shearer said, adding that he fears Bruno will be the next to go. He argued that Howe must have felt the task was becoming impossible — and that Bruno himself, now without the manager he clearly trusted, may reach the same conclusion.

Shearer also highlighted Newcastle's repeated failure to complete signings, noting that Hugo Ekitike, Johan Manzambi, and Victor Munoz all chose Liverpool or Aston Villa over Newcastle in the past 12 months. James Trafford, meanwhile, appears to have opted for Leeds United instead. "There has to be a reason why Newcastle are not getting so many of their targets," he said.

A club at a crossroads

Beyond the immediate transfer picture, Shearer painted a sobering portrait of a club whose ambitions appear to have fundamentally shifted. He recalled the summer of 2023, when Newcastle — fresh from a fourth-place finish — brought in Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, and Tino Livramento to join a squad already boasting Isak, Gordon, and Bruno. At that point, the sky seemed the limit.

Three years on, much of that squad has been dismantled, and now the manager has gone too. The club's stated approach now appears to centre on selling established stars and replacing them with younger, less-proven prospects — a model Shearer views with considerable scepticism.

"If it was that easy to do it successfully and still compete at the top of the table, then everyone would do it — but it isn't," he said.

Matthias Jaissle, 38, is widely expected to be appointed as Howe's successor. While Jaissle has earned success with Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, Shearer cautioned that the Premier League is an entirely different challenge — and that even a far more experienced manager would find the current situation at Newcastle a daunting one.

"Speaking purely as a fan, I think we have to get ready for a tough season and some very challenging times ahead," Shearer concluded.