Eddie Howe Interview: Navigating Challenges at Newcastle and Managerial Inspiration from Wenger

0:11Hello and welcome to the Two Robbies podcast, your destination for in-depth discussion and analysis of the Premier League. I'm Robbie Musto. He's Robbie Earl. And this is another one of our interview series. This time we sit down with Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe, who talks about his early thoughts of this season campaign and how his team are going to fare in the Premier League and also the Champions League this season. Here's our conversation. OK, Eddie, thanks so much for joining us. We're a couple of months into the season right now. I know the summer was a little challenging, a little crazy.

0:42How do you summarise the first couple of months of the season?

0:48Yeah, I mean, a tough couple of months for us. I think we had a tough start to the season in terms of fixtures. Some big, big games. I actually think overall our performances have been pretty strong in those games. We just haven't been at our free-flowing attacking best. And that's probably the reason why we haven't picked up more points. But last few games, I think we've been showing good signs of hopefully returning to our very best form. Eddie, can you talk to us about some of those new signings? Nick Valtomara, Malik Chau in particular, I think, has gone under the radar. And what are you hoping Johan Wiese will bring to the team once he's fit?

1:24Yeah, I think our new signings have done pretty well. I've been delighted with Nick. Very, very tough for him. He was really thrown in at the deep end. Very little training time with us and straight into match days with no training in between either because we had such an intense period of fixtures. But he's got to grasp with everything very quickly and scored some big goals for us. So I'm very pleased with him. And Malik, as you say, recently into the team and seems like he's been in the team for a lot longer than that. He's settled in really well. He's built up a good relationship with the players around him and delighted with how he started.

2:00Yeah, Johan will bring a lot, I think. He's got a lot of really good attributes that we'll look to utilise. He's got pace, knows where the goal is. Very good link player as well. And then when you add Jacob Ramsey to that, again he's another player just back fit I think he's got a big future with us and Aaron Ramsdale started well too so I think the new signings have all contributed and will contribute a lot more as we go on Eddie, of course we're always breaking down stuff on our NBC coverage Newcastle United and the way that you play I'm always fascinated in style and approach just interested because I see sometimes Newcastle United when you're on that front foot and you're power forward and the high press is incredibly effective.

2:44But in other games, I remember Bournemouth away, there's a different approach, a little bit more passive. The players, well, first off, are there different game modes that you use depending on circumstances? Is there something that's always constant? And how do the players adapt to different kind of approaches from game to game? Yeah, good question. I think we predominantly have one style, but that's not to say that that style can't be tweaked for certain games and the Bournemouth game that you mentioned in particular that was off the back of a Champions League game on Thursday we played them on the Sunday and we just felt we needed to tactically match up slightly differently the principles we try not in how we play we try not to change just the certain aspects of our press may change but in terms of the actual style will be pretty similar I think consistency and the players knowing what I expect of them is key.

3:41But also you don't want to sort of fall into traps when you play teams that you've just got one way. I think you need to have that variety to be successful. Eddie, I'm particularly interested in the midfield three, really, that you go with now. With Tonali being a little bit deeper, Bruno one side and Joe Ellington the other. I mean, you've moved Tonali into more of a six. Joe Ellington, you kind of converted to a midfield player. When do those changes, when do you see those changes? When do those ideas come to you? Is it during training? Is it during match days? Because obviously it's worked out where you've got one of the best balanced midfields in the league.

4:22Yeah, I'd say we're, I believe in fluidity is probably the first thing to say, Robbie. So, yes, Sandro, a lot of time we'll start the deepest player, but he does have an element of freedom to rotate with Bruno. And you see them doing that a lot during games. Joe Linton, as you said, was a striker. He's now playing slightly lower on the pitch, but he will end up playing wide and inside. So I think a fluid... We believe in fluid structures. We don't believe in rigid structures. So we'll ask our players in training to play in different positions. We will work on the fluidity of our system. We will work on players interchanging.

5:05because I think that's the hardest thing to play against. I think the easiest thing to play against is when everyone's in their set positions. So, yeah, we work on a lot of different systems and a lot of players playing in different positions. Eddie, with Nick Valdemar up front, as opposed to Alexander Izak for the most part in recent seasons, is that going to change the attacking final third and how the wingers interact with Nick or is it going to be a similar sort of idea with how they link together?

5:35Yeah, I think just naturally it will change things slightly for the players around Nick. I think we became so used to having Alex in that role and getting used to Alex's movements and how he liked the ball and lots of different things. And we'll work on a lot of patterns anyway. So I think the players then go through a period of adjustment when one player comes out and another one comes in to understand where that player then wants the ball and what their strengths are. So I think we're undergoing sort of that process now. The challenge, the big challenge we have is we're not able to do that through training.

6:07We're having to do that in the games, really. And I think you can see improvement in those dynamics from the last few weeks. And then that will change again, hopefully, when Johan's fit and, you know, we can start to use him. And it'll be interesting to see how that changes throughout the season. Eddie, just in the focus a little bit on yourself, you've been a manager a long time now. Who are your biggest influences? Is it one or two you've observed? Do you take bits from different people along the way?

6:42Yeah, it's a tough question, that, because I get that question asked a lot. I think there's no doubt that I took a lot of things into my management from the managers that I played through. I think you can't help but do that when you're playing. So my managers, my early manager, Mel Machen, was a huge influence on me. he was a brilliant manager

7:05and yeah I mean I think he gave a trust in me that meant so much for such a young player to be trusted in that way I've never forgotten that and I try to give that to my young players the ones that I really believe in that trust that you see something in them that maybe they don't see in themselves Sean O'Driscoll was a huge influence I mean he was a revolutionary really he saw things very differently to a lot of traditional managers at the time feel myself lucky to have played under him for such a long time and to absorb his his way of speaking to players and how he conducted himself and then just on sort of the wider of course harry redknapp i didn't play under harry that was the problem i was injured a lot but i sort of observed a lot of harry as i was injured and harry was um again such a good man manager made players feel so good before they entered the pitch.

7:58I think that's probably the biggest things I took from him. I think Arsene Wenger was a big one for me. So as I was coming towards the end of my playing career, Arsene was probably in his peak years as Arsenal manager. His Arsenal team, the way they played, was different at the time. And the invincible team, every time Arsene were on the telly, for me that was a big learning curve. So I watched a lot of them and was lucky enough not to go and watch Arsenal necessarily coach, but watch, I think it was their 21s or their reserves being coached at the same time. And a lot of the same principals were running through the club.

8:33And yeah, I was lucky enough to go against Arsenal towards the end of his management career. And they were great experiences at the time. Eddie, obviously you've just gone over so much there. What advice would you give to a 2008 Eddie Howe going into management? I think whenever people are asked this question, I think they say the same, they give the same answer. And I would probably say to myself to try and enjoy it more. But I think it's probably a worth bit of advice because I think when you're on a journey and you're so focused and driven and ambitious, ambitious for the team, ambitious for the players that I was coaching, you end up, you can't really enjoy it or absorb all the enjoyment side of that because you're not seeing it, you're not exposing yourself to it because you're on a journey.

9:26You've got to get somewhere and you've got to get somewhere quickly. So I'd love to say that I could have enjoyed every experience I've had a bit more, but I'm always thinking about tomorrow and I'm still in that same place now. I'm thinking about how can we improve? How can we be as best we can for the weekend? What do I need to change to evolve to become better? I'm probably still in that process right now. Eddie, you won the first major trophy in 70 years for your team. You've got the team back in Europe. A broad question is what does it feel like being the manager of Newcastle United? What's the responsibility for you?

10:04Another good question. I think it feels overall it feels amazing and i never wake up and don't appreciate the fact that i'm managing newcastle way i i don't take that for granted i don't i never have done and i think the day that i probably do is the day that i i shouldn't be here anymore you know i love the fact i'm waking up and i'm like i'm going to work and i'm here and i know how important the job is for everybody um that gives me a real buzz winning the trophy that we did last year was just the perfect day, the perfect experience. I'd love to experience that again. It drives me to try and fulfil that dream again.

10:46It's just an amazing football club full of amazing people with just the best supporters. So I consider myself very lucky. Thanks, Eddie. We find ourselves lucky speaking to you today. Wish you best of luck for domestic season, Champions League, maybe another League Cup victory at the end of the year. Robbie that's really kind thank you very much thanks Eddie our thanks to Eddie Howe it was brilliant to speak direct to a manager who's working both in the Premier League and the Champions League and the challenge of managing top class players day to day keep an eye out for more 2 Robbie specials in the coming weeks but for Musti and myself it's bye for now

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