Dan Burn opens up on Eddie Howe's Newcastle exit and new captaincy honour

Howe decided to step down following a disappointing 12th-place finish in the Premier League last term and a heavy 4-1 pre-season defeat against Bristol City. His departure brought down the curtain on a memorable era that yielded Carabao Cup glory in March 2025 alongside Champions League qualification. Amid the managerial transition, Burn was officially named the club's new skipper, taking over the armband from Bruno Guimaraes following the Brazilian's summer switch to Arsenal.

Speaking after Newcastle's 3-2 penalty shootout loss to Strasbourg on Sunday following a 1-1 draw, Burn reflected on Howe's departure and insisted that fresh leadership could reinvigorate the squad. However, the newly appointed skipper admitted the manager's sudden exit still caught him off guard, despite having noticed Howe's deep frustration following their final-day defeat to Fulham last season: "No, if I'm honest [whether he knew Howe would leave]. I didn't think he was going to do it. I knew he was disappointed after the Fulham game, but I thought after the summer he was going to be ready to come back," he said, as quoted by The Shields Gazette.

"I spoke to him regularly in the off-season, but yeah, I was in Canada when I found out, I just had a few texts when I woke up. Listen, there's always time for change, and Eddie obviously thought that it was time for him to step away. For lots of reasons people did think it was time for a change. Either way, I was sad to see the manager go, but change can be a good thing and hopefully we'll see the start of that this week."

The towering centre-back urged the dressing room to adapt swiftly to the tactical demands of the new era under Jaissle. He continued: "I've played under a lot of managers, so I've tried to take a little bit from everyone. But in my experience change can be good if you put that effort into it and embrace the new change and the new philosophy. As a club and as a city, I hope that's what we're going to do this season. The younger lads are going to need a lot of support this year. I'm hoping that the crowd can bring that."

Addressing the honour of being handed the captaincy at his boyhood club, Burn added: "I'm very proud to be named club captain. Some things you can't really dream of when you're a kid, but for me that was a dream from very early on to be captain of Newcastle, so very grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to leading the lads this season."

With their pre-season schedule now concluded, Newcastle quickly turn their attention to competitive action. Jaissle's side kick off their 2026-27 Premier League campaign by hosting Liverpool at St James' Park on Sunday, August 23. The curtain-raiser will provide an immediate examination of Burn's leadership as he looks to guide his team to a positive start.