Eddie Howe is "surprised" there has been talk of him leaving Newcastle United at the end of this season, as he continues to shut out links to the England job.
Howe led Newcastle to their first major domestic trophy in 70 years in 2024-25, as they defeated Liverpool to lift the EFL Cup at Wembley Stadium last March.
However, their title defence came to a miserable end on Wednesday as they were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Manchester City in the semi-finals, and they sit a lowly 11th in the Premier League ahead of hosting Brentford on Saturday.
The Magpies have lost their last two Premier League matches, last losing more on the spin in December and January in 2023-24 (four). The Opta supercomputer now assigns them just a 1% chance of a top-four finish, with ninth (13.5%) seen as their most likely position.
And with some fans suggesting Howe has taken the club as far as he can, there have been suggestions he could succeed Thomas Tuchel as England boss after the World Cup.
But Howe was unfazed by those rumours at Friday's pre-match press conference, saying: "That's a surprise to me.
"I give my best to the football club every single day, to all the players and the staff. I try to be the best version of myself to inspire the team to win games.
"That's my only thought. I don't tend to look too far ahead, but I try to prepare and plan for the club to move forward in every sense. My individual future isn't really relevant.
"Who knows? I don't know my length of time here; I've got no idea. I just try to do my best every day until I'm told differently."
Newcastle's season began with the British-record sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool, though they also spent an estimated £240m on permanent deals for Nick Woltemade, Anthony Elanga, Yoane Wissa, Jacob Ramsey and Malick Thiaw.
And Howe believes those players will need time to make their mark, adding: "For me, it's too early to make strong conclusions from that transfer window.
"At this moment in time, I'd probably say let's see where we are at the end of the season, and then even six months into next season too.
"I think you'll have a clearer idea then, because you can look back at Lewis Hall's transfer and go, 'Well that didn't work initially', but for me that was always a long-term signing.
"That's also true of various other players we've signed through the years – Anthony Gordon also took time to become the player that he is now.
"Patience is needed, although it's a rare commodity these days with transfers.
"I understand that with the outlay, people will go, 'You shouldn't need patience and understanding.' But I'd say with most transfers, there has to be an element of that."