England's Eddie Howe decision surprised me - but I'm delighted he's staying at Newcastle United

Make no mistake, Dan Burn is delighted Eddie Howe is not the new manager of England. But the Newcastle United defender was left somewhat puzzled that the Magpies boss wasn't on the list of coaches the FA spoke to following Gareth Southate's exit.

Thomas Tuchel will take charge of the Three Lions in January following Lee Carsley's successful spell as interim manager, with some eyebrows raised over a German managing the England men's side. That's not an issue for Blyth-born Burn, but he admits to being surprised Howe's name was not in the mix.

However, he's delighted the Newcastle head coach is staying on Tyneside, and says the fact he was heavily linked with the role highlights what a good job he's doing at St James' Park.

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“I'm not particularly bothered where the manager of England comes from, if anything you should just choose the best person for the job,” Burn told The Sports Agents podcast.. “Obviously there's people a lot more qualified than me who've chosen that. So yeah, was it a surprise that the gaffer wasn't approached? Yeah, very.

“Obviously, if he's been sort of up for the England job, it means that he's doing something right. I do think at some point that there will be the right time for him to go and do that, and I think he'll do an amazing job. But I'm obviously very happy that he’s stayed.”

Burn's love of Newcastle is no secret, with the defender a proud United fan. He's not alone in the current first-team though, with local talent Sean Longstaff and Lewis Miley in the squad, plus boyhood fans Lewis Hall and Jacob Murphy. The days of a dream of a side of Geordies may be in the distant past, but Burn feels it's still important to have local links alongside big-name international stars such as Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Sandro Tonali.

“I think it's really important anyway to have those players at Newcastle, because I think you understand what the fans are after,” he added. “Personally, I just think it just gives you that extra few percent on the pitch that you maybe don't get for any other reason.”

“I think it’s always important to have Geordies in the squad, hopefully it’ll continue for years to come. But obviously we know that the trajectory that the club's gone that's not always going to be possible. But as I said, they are investing a lot of money into the academy at the moment.”

Burn will miss Monday's Premier League clash against West Ham having picked up five bookings to earn a one-match suspension, but is set to return to the squad for next weekend's game at Crystal Palace.

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