Newcastle manager Eddie Howe says he was not interviewed by the Football Association for the England job.
Former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was named as the man to replace Gareth Southgate this week, just the third non-English manager to take the role.
Howe, one of three English managers in the Premier League, has long been linked with the role.
He said: “There was no-one more pleased than me to see Thomas get the job, really, and take it because it’s just a distraction – not that it distracts me, but you can see it’s unsettling at times when certain things are said and written about.
“The more that everyone can focus on Newcastle – which has always been my only concern – the better.”
Thomas Tuchel. Our #ThreeLions head coach from 2025. 🏴
— England (@England) October 16, 2024
Asked further if he had been one of the 10 candidates on the list drawn up by the FA, Howe said: “No, I wasn’t.”
Asked if the England job would interest him one day, Howe said: “Who knows? I’ve always said that you can never predict what’s going to happen in management, you can never plan too far ahead. I certainly don’t.
“I’m a day-to-day planner, while certainly acknowledging that Newcastle – I’ve always said this – has a future and we have to make sure we make the right decisions long-term.
“But the job takes so many twists and turns, you can’t look too far ahead. I think that’s negative, actually, if you do that, so in terms of my own career and what’s five, 10 years ahead, I don’t know, I’ve got no idea.
“But I’d never say that managing England isn’t something I’d like to do maybe one day if given the opportunity, but my focus is Newcastle, Newcastle, Newcastle.”
Newcastle resume their Premier League campaign against Brighton on Saturday.
