My take on Eddie Howe’s comments - Positives, negatives, hopes and fears

Eddie Howe is the type of football manager who can silence a pub with his post-match interviews.  Speaking to the media this afternoon, from the clubs preseason training base at Adidas’ training facilities in Germany, the gaffer has certainly set the fanbases tongues wagging with speculation, interpreting his comments to the media.

Let’s examine what he had to say:

In an interview with Sky Sports’ Keith Downie Eddie Howe offered his ‘unwavering commitment’ to the football club, adding:

“As long as I have certain things for me. As in, I’m happy and I’m allowed to work in the way that I feel I need to work to get the best out of me, and that I feel supported. Then that will never change.”

No dramas here. The boss clearly stating that for him to be able to perform at his best he needs certain working conditions to be met.

“There’s been so much change that I think we need a period of time to set the boundaries and get to know how we are all going to work. For the benefit of Newcastle, not for the benefit of me. The club is the most important thing in all of this. It’s all about Newcastle United.” 

Based on these comments Howe is outlining his own boundaries, clearly and publicly stating that there are certain assurances that he wants from those newly appointed above him about how his role of Head Coach fits into the new structure. He wants to test the new working relationships out.

Eddie has had numerous responsibilities in his three years on Tyneside – acting as essentially a de facto Sporting Director in his first transfer window thru to a Head Coach daily – so structural changes above him will undoubtedly have an impact on how he works.

“England isn’t important at all. Nothing will ever unsettle me from my job. I’m tunnel vision and have been all summer. And that will continue.”

I.e. The FA can look elsewhere. And Eddie recommits to the club for the second time.

“It’s all about Newcastle United — I’m so proud to be manager. I feel I have such a special relationship with the fans, and I’m fiercely determined to win a trophy for them. I hope we are able to achieve our objectives together.” 

Looking at the comments positively, Eddie is clearly happy to stay at Newcastle and reject any advances England make if the dynamics within the club still work for him in the new structure and he is backed in the transfer market. Additionally, Howe has looked positive in the myriad photos the club have posted from the preseason training camp, and Paul Mitchell has stated in his recent interview that he is keen to work with the manager.

On the flipside, in an interview with BBC Newcastle, the gaffer cut a very different figure, with slightly negative body language he said:

“As long as I am happy, and feel supported, and feel free to do the work that I love to do at Newcastle, I’ll be very happy – and I am very happy.”

Further quotes coming from a Daily Mail article have Howe advising:

“I absolutely want to stay but it has to be right for me and the football club. There’s absolutely no point in me saying I’m happy staying at Newcastle if the dynamic isn’t right. I’m certainly not serving Newcastle well if I do that.”

Eddie’s comments here are clearly more cautious and when you listen to the interviews his tone and body language are certainly open to interpretation. Latterly, in the Daily Mail article, Eddie adds:

“We’re in a flux of change… I can’t say with a definitive answer where that will lead… The transfer window is absolutely massive. That’s no criticism of anyone who has come in.”

There are some fascinating comments from the boss in the Mail article and I would highly encourage you to read the whole piece and make up your own mind regarding Eddie’s comments. 

What is clear is that Eddie is committed to the job, if he receives certain assurances and conditions are met, but those clearly haven’t been established yet with all the working relationships being so new. Paul Mitchell and James Bunce have only been in position for a week and the England job is certainly a spectre hovering too with all the media links.

Eddie talks about being ‘all in’ as the only way he knows how to work, and we have seen that in his three years at the club. His comments paint him as a man who is equally trepidatious as he is emotionally invested in Newcastle United, someone who wants to win a trophy for the fans but perhaps, now, he can’t quite see how he does that.

From a fans point of view, with the obvious weaknesses in the squad (RW and RCB) still not fixed at this late point in the summer, and with potentially £100million+ to be spent on some big signings in the transfer market, if Eddie Howe was to walk away it would rock the squad and the fanbase to the core.

Ultimately, clarity is needed immediately, as season 2024-25 is huge as Newcastle look to get back into Europe and hopefully end our long, painful wait for some domestic silverware