Eddie Howe’s longevity is not only rare among Premier League managers, but it is also not even replicated within Newcastle United at under-21 level.
Adam Lawrence became the latest to offer only a fleeting presence, with the former Manchester United Under-18s coach unexpectedly leaving last weekend after only four months in the role.
Since Howe arrived in November 2021, there have been four permanent under-21 coaches. Go back further to when Peter Beardsley, who had been in situ since 2010, was suspended in January 2018 due to allegations of using racist and abusive language, and Newcastle have had six permanent under-21 coaches, plus six caretakers (overseen by four separate coaches).
Even by the transient nature of that position at Newcastle, Lawrence’s tenure was particularly short. Robbie Stockdale, the former Middlesbrough defender and previously an under-21 coach at Sunderland, has assumed temporary charge for the second time, having also stepped up following Diarmuid O’Carroll’s move to Sparta Prague last June after only nine months on Tyneside.
“We do want some stability and we do realise that (would be beneficial),” Steve Harper, Newcastle’s academy director, told The Athletic at a freezing-cold Academy of Light, having just watched the under-21s’ 1-1 Wear-Tyne derby draw against Sunderland on Friday. Harper expressed a sentiment which is shared by Ross Wilson, the sporting director who joined in October, and which the pair discussed this week.
“Yet we also want to recruit young, aspiring coaches who are on an upward trajectory, who can connect with young players. But are we looking for somebody to come and stay for a while? Yes, of course we are.”
Newcastle’s under-21 coach churn
NamePositionTenure
Ben Dawson
Permanent
April 2018-June 2019
Neil Redfearn
Permanent
July 2019-November 2019
Ben Dawson
Interim
November 2019-February 2020
Chris Hogg
Permanent
February 2020-August 2021
Gary Caldwell
Interim
August 2021-September 2021
Elliott Dickman
Permanent
October 2021-December 2022
Ben Dawson
Permanent
January 2023-July 2024
Jack Ross/Neil Winskill
Interim
July 2024-September 2024
Diarmuid O’Carroll
Permanent
September 2024-June 2025
Robbie Stockdale
Interim
July 2025-August 2025
Adam Lawrence
Permanent
September 2025-January 2026
Robbie Stockdale
Interim
January 2026-
Conspiracy theories have arisen subsequently given the abrupt nature of the announcement — coming just 36 hours after Lawrence had overseen a 1-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough on January 9, following which he gave no indication of an impending exit while conducting media duties in a well-mannered fashion — yet multiple club sources, speaking anonymously so they could talk freely, have insisted there was no fallout and no big trigger point which led to Lawrence going.
O’Carroll, Chris Hogg and Ben Dawson left for first-team opportunities elsewhere, showing that Newcastle’s under-21 role can further the careers of ambitious coaches, and the club were compensated for each of their exits.
But with Lawrence, that is not the case and his departure had been shrouded in some mystery, given the press release last Sunday merely stated that he “has chosen to step down”. But Harper provides fresh insight into how it came about.
“I woke up to a message from Adam on the Saturday morning (January 10) saying he wished to step down from the role,” Harper says. “I immediately rang him and asked to meet at lunchtime to have a conversation with him. It was decided that, yes, he had a short notice period with it being early.
“But I said: ‘If that’s how you feel, we can shake hands and move forward. We wish you well as a young, up-and-coming coach’. Then we met again on Tuesday morning, where we talked about the reflections of his time and how we can all learn from that and take it forward.
“There’s nothing sinister, there’s no malice. It’s not an easy job, under-21s football. I think people think it is, but there are a lot of moving parts and, at this moment in time, it wasn’t right for Adam, but we wish him well.”
The reasoning offered by a senior insider is that Lawrence and Newcastle under-21s were “not quite the right fit” together. It is not believed there was any acrimony on either side when Lawrence opted to leave, just a shared acceptance that both parties would be better served moving on from one another.
Harper does not judge under-21 coaches on results alone, given their unique position means they have to service first-team requirements, develop players, adhere to a wider loan strategy and give younger players opportunities to step up, as well as try to be competitive on the field. But it is hard to argue that Lawrence’s record matched expectations of a club which has grand ambitions at all levels.
In 16 under-21 games across all competitions, Lawrence won only four, drawing two and losing 10. Add in the six UEFA Youth League matches with the under-19s which he oversaw, all of which were defeats, and Lawrence’s win ratio was just 18 per cent. His loss ratio, meanwhile, was 73 per cent. There were 34 goals scored and 58 conceded across those 22 matches.
Adam Lawrence and Newcastle were just not a good fit (George Wood/Getty Images)
A change in the dugout has not immediately delivered victories, either.
Stockdale assumed control for the 5-0 humbling at the hands of Benfica in the Premier League International Cup on Tuesday — one of Europe’s best youth sides, the Portuguese club also hammered Newcastle’s under-19s 5-1 on Tyneside in October — before taking the under-21s back to his former club. At least Newcastle scored on Wearside, ending a run of seven games across two months without a goal in all competitions, and fought back to pick up a point.
Newcastle are 23rd out of 29 in the Premier League 2 table with nine points — they remain a point and a place above Sunderland — having won just two games this season.
Even so, Lawrence’s decision to leave was his own and his exit was not results-based, at least not in the sense that the club took action and removed him for failing to win games. There appears to have been a mutual appreciation that it was not working out, but Newcastle did not dismiss Lawrence.
Where Newcastle turn next is unclear.
Lawrence was appointed following a thorough recruitment-and-interview process, though that preceded Wilson’s tenure. Internal options — with Stockdale, who straight-batted a question on Friday about whether he would be interested in the permanent job with a “we’ll see what happens”, chief among them — will be considered, alongside external candidates, with Harper stressing “all options are on the table”.
“It wasn’t planned… but we are not going to ask somebody to hang around if they wish to step away,” Harper says. ” We’re in good hands and we’ve got a really good team of staff (throughout the academy).
“And so we go again (at under-21 level). It was a two-game week (for the under-21s), so we take a breath and take stock. Is it time to go for some grey-haired wisdom with a young up-and-coming coach? That’s where we’re at. It’s important to get the next one right.”
And, most importantly, for that next under-21 coach to provide some long-term consistency.
