Speaking to NUFC TV back in June, Toon chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan revealed his ambitious plan to make Newcastle United the “number one” club in England.
He also portrays this message in the trailer for the upcoming Amazon series and it’s one Eddie Howe has responded to during a recent interview, where he speaks about his hopes and fears as Toon boss.
Howe reveals that he’s fully aware of the expectations of the club and knows all about Yasir’s big ambitions, insisting he “wants to hit those targets for him.” However, he insists that the main “fear” that drives him is his constant push to not let his players or the fans down, explaining how the only pressure he feels is from himself.
Speaking ahead of the Sela Cup weekend and next Saturday’s Premier League opener against Aston Villa, here’s what he had to say:
“I don’t have one point of fear where I am looking at it and thinking, “I fear this”. It is more the fear of not being successful, which is a bigger picture. Fear of not doing my job well. Fear of letting the players down. Fear of letting the people of Newcastle down. That drives me.
“It sounds negative, but it’s not, for me it is hugely positive – because it makes me work as hard as I do. I don’t want people to think, “Poor guy, he is constantly fearful!”. I am not. But yes, there is definitely an internal stress. I am not in a comfortable place right now.
“The pressure I feel is from myself. Even if Yasir could sit me down and have a talk I would welcome that and if he wanted to give me direct objectives, no problem, that wouldn’t create a fear in me. The fear comes from myself.
“I know the expectations of the club. I know his thoughts and aims and ambitions and I want to hit those targets for him. Ultimately, I have to look at myself. I can only do what I can do. That is what I mark myself against – what I am giving? If I am giving my all, that is all I can do.”
For all the talk of taking Newcastle to the top, Howe is remaining grounded, preferring to focus on each step at a time ahead of next week’s opener against Aston Villa:
“The key thing is not to think about that. The key thing last season was: can we beat, say, Nottingham Forest (on the opening day last season)? If we beat them it is a great place to build a season. Now it is: can we beat Aston Villa? It is not a given. The start we have this season is very very difficult. That is a challenge we have to overcome.”
