Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi believe a move for Unai Emery would have been the “wrong choice” in the end, backing Eddie Howe to be at Newcastle for a “very long time.”
At the time, the public opinion was that the club had failed to attract someone of the level of Emery and had then settled for Howe, with the media briefed that a move for the Villarreal boss was imminent before the Spaniard suddenly decided to stay put.
However, Amanda Staveley feels sure we “made the right decision with Eddie”, wondering whether the former Arsenal boss could’ve got us “up to speed” (like Howe has) without that initial infrastructure in place.
Howe then went on to receive their full backing, with Staveley and Ghodoussi insisting he is someone they plan to keep for a “very long time” in the hope he can become “the next Alex Ferguson” of English football!
Here’s what Staveley had to say about Howe and former target Unai Emery when speaking to The Athletic:
“Eddie was actually ahead of everybody on points.
“When you looked at his data, he was fantastic.
“You could see what he’d done at Bournemouth was extraordinary, but could he do the same with more resource?
“Unai had a good name and a reputation, but would he have been able to get up to speed without the infrastructure?”
“It would have been wrong. We made the right decision with Eddie.
“He’s come in, no airs or graces, no ego, and we’re there to support him.
“I’ve really grown to care a great deal about him and his coaches.
“We talk to Eddie multiple times a day. I’m fascinated by what he does. He’s so detailed, so hard working. You don’t know when you’re interviewing someone what they’re going to be like but he’s got huge integrity.
“I would love Eddie to be the next Alex Ferguson.
“We know Eddie has the ability to keep us up. And it was always with a view to a long-term future.
“We hope and think that Eddie will be with us for a very long time.”
With a seven-game unbeaten run in the Premier League under his belt and the squad finally performing to their potential, it would be extremely difficult to criticise what many people believed to be an underwhelming appointment at first.
After significant praise from the two directors for Howe, the biggest statement of the interview was the “I would love Eddie to be the next Alex Ferguson” line. Not too much pressure then!
But, with his attention to detail, hard work and passion for the game, who knows what he could achieve on Tyneside if all that is combined with huge backing from those above.
