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It’s not my natural inclination to wax lyrical about managers as they are often presidents of their own fan club, but full credit must be given to the job Eddie Howe is doing at Newcastle.
My initial reaction was that it didn’t fit clearly. He was Newcastle’s second choice behind Unai Emery and had backed away from accepting the Celtic job. At that moment I realized that I didn’t have the strength to do it. He didn’t have high expectations and, to put it bluntly, didn’t believe he had the skills to be Newcastle manager.
But he is doing an extraordinary job and I don’t think there is anyone in English football who is doing better than Howe at Newcastle at the moment.
Not only because he bought well and galvanized the spirit of the club. Not just because the playstyle is something you want to see. Not only because when they have faced adversity with a shortage of players they can overcome it. Not only because when they make bad decisions against them they don’t cry or criticize. Not only because they don’t constantly use bad luck as an excuse for bad results. It is because of all those things that makes him a breath of fresh air.
And what all those things tell you is that this guy has character. He is no fool and he is a man of substance. But I admit that I did not think that substance was as important as it is now proving to be.
Eddie Howe had his doubters when he joined Newcastle in 2021, but he has done a remarkable job on Tyneside.
Mail Sport columnist Simon Jordan (pictured) has been hugely impressed by the way Howe has approached his affairs at Newcastle.
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He is the perfect person, in the perfect job at the perfect time. But successful results still have to be achieved. He has changed them overnight, from the darkness of Mike Ashley’s perceived miserable regime to this completely transformed club, and I don’t really see anywhere that he has made a misstep.
Of course, you can point to the financial power of Newcastle’s owners and human rights issues to try to diminish what Howe has achieved. But that’s unfair. Firstly, Newcastle are simply spending what most of the top six clubs spend and, secondly, it is unreasonable to expect Howe to offer any particular insight into the owners’ moral compass, values, motivations and aspirations. .
The CEOs and president should answer those types of questions and not the manager, who is not qualified to do so. Like Pep Guardiola he is not qualified to speak about the financial fair play obligations that Manchester City have or have not met.
Maybe Howe should have developed a slightly better trick when faced with these types of questions, but I don’t blame him for dodging them because he has nothing to add. And he certainly can’t add his two penn’orth in any way because they will be used against him and his relationship with the one who owns him. Is there a right or wrong answer Howe could offer given that to give the right answer he would have to vilify the property? So I’m not entirely sure that it is Howe’s responsibility in life to adopt moral principles, given that our own government does not do so when he deals with the same people who own Newcastle.
Howe’s focus is and should be football and right now there is euphoria in Newcastle. They are riding a tide of energy and enthusiasm and possess a determination to achieve it because, unlike historic clubs, they do not yet have a deep-rooted entitlement or belief that they should do what they are doing.
Howe has answered questions about Newcastle’s ownership, but they should be answered by the chief executive or chairman.
Joelinton looked like a completely different player to the one who struggled with Steve Bruce.
Howe is a very level-headed, well-rounded and balanced person who probably benefited more from his time managing Bournemouth than someone who came from a more privileged or esteemed footballing background. That has served them well and if you are a Newcastle fan you can only be proud of what this team is doing.
His post-match interviews are solid, sensible and based on constructive observations. There is no hyperbole, no unnecessary superlatives and it is not overly emotional. He does not get carried away by winning, nor does he get discouraged by losing. He’s not overly effusive with his players, but he praises them just the right amount and his players convey the message. That in itself is the art of management.
His players are absolutely in it, in it and through it. Anthony Gordon, who I felt was a little ahead of himself, is now developing into a player you would have on most teams.
Joelinton and so many others seem like different players. They are getting better and better in all positions and, without wanting to be too effusive, there are very few things that they cannot find that are not positive.
Everything you saw on Saturday from Howe’s team, when they were so impressive beating Manchester United, was the polar opposite of what you got from their opponents.
If you look at this Newcastle team and their performances against PSG, their approach in the Champions League, their performances in the Premier League, the culture of the club and the direction of travel, a significant proportion of that is down to stability, Howe’s solid, clearly inspiring leadership.
Now I see a manager on a trajectory that is only upward. I still hold the view that Howe may not be the ultimate beneficiary of all the good work he has done. This is not a criticism of Howe or my attempt to belittle him, but expectation levels are going to change and ambition levels will increase.
Unless you start winning European leagues, cups and trophies, while that may be a very important part of Newcastle’s journey to greatness, I’m not sure I’ll be there to enjoy those successes. Newcastle are building an underlying culture where they will enter the territory of the expectation to win, and win big.
Howe has also brought out the best in Anthony Gordon after his difficult start at St James’ Park
Newcastle have held their own in Europe this season and Howe has put together a team of players who are all heading in the same direction.
Howe has the Newcastle fans firmly on his side and they look like a club that will go far.
Howe’s next challenge will be to close the gap with players like Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
That change will come and there will be a time when you will think like that. That is the critical point. Howe has been through every gear and gotten them all right, but the specter of the enormous financial power that owners can unleash is always there in the background.
If they really want to dominate (as I suspect they will, otherwise what was the point of buying the club) then I fear Howe could become a victim as they move towards that goal.
As an Englishman who wants an English manager to succeed in the Premier League, I would be delighted to be proven wrong. I hope he beats them in the league, but that would be a significant tectonic shift.
Newcastle are becoming an irresistible force but the immovable objects are the bigger, better and more established clubs and unless we see a radical change with them, the holy grail may elude Howe. Who knows, if that’s the case, the Toon’s loss may be the national team’s gain.
Marcus must lift the pessimism
If England manager Gareth Southgate were to choose his team for tomorrow’s Euros, Marcus Rashford would not justify his inclusion.
The forward is part of a generation of Manchester United players who live off the legacy of those who have done things for the club in the past, but are a pale imitation of previous teams and receive much more attention than they deserve.
Rashford’s problem is that he has been put on a pedestal that he does not deserve. He’s not a world-class player, but he’s judged by those standards. As we have seen with other players, we don’t know what challenges he faces outside of the game, but he must remember that this is the best time of his life. He’s playing for arguably one of the best clubs in the world, but he walks around with a look of impending doom.
Rashford, 26, needs to recover and improve his game quickly if he wants to be on the plane to Germany next year.
Marcus Rashford does not guarantee a place in the England squad in his current form and needs to turn things around quickly to board the plane to Germany next summer.
The new television deal is not good for fans
There has been a lot of fanfare for the Premier League TV deal and it’s great for Sky, but I’m not sure it’s a great deal for the fans.
The broadcaster has more games for virtually the same price over four years rather than three, so I’m not sure why the Premier League presents this as some sort of increase.
Of course, if the cost implications for fans are reduced as a result of this new deal, they will benefit, but I would be surprised if that were the case. I am sure that the decision to reach this agreement, which will come into force when the new regulator arrives, is purely coincidental…