NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe said he does not get caught up in the highs and lows of managing a club like Newcastle United, nor does he pay much attention to the “soap opera” script that can often surround his job.
There have been no shortage of controversies, flashpoints or peaks and troughs at St James’ Park but, in many ways, Howe is the antithesis of all that.
By his own admission a football geek, he is calm and collected in defeat while remaining reserved and respectful in victory. This is a far cry from the drama you might see in some other Premier League dugouts. Nor is it entirely representative of the volatile mood of United fans, which ebbs and flows with every point won or lost.
Howe knows, however, that part his job is to remain level-headed no matter what is going on around him, on or off the pitch.
“I embrace the wins and I love that feeling and I want to see other people happy and our supporters enjoying success; that is my motivation to do the job,” he said.
“I don’t think it is healthy to get caught up in it and be a person of extreme emotion. I don’t think that helps my players at all. Staying calm, using my brain to think logically and intelligently, is what I do.”
Managing the Magpies is often seen as an emotional roller coaster. Newcastle United legend Kevin Keegan, for example, who had two spells on Tyneside as manager and one as a player, once described the experience as “riding the black and white tiger.”
That tiger looks like a totally different beast under Howe and owners the Saudi Public Investment Fund, compared with what it was like under the previous stewardship of Steve Bruce and Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley. While steady growth is the aim — the club does not intend to just buy its way to success — progress is already very much the undercurrent flowing through a reinvigorated St James’ Park, in contrast to the previous 15 years starved of hope and funds.
All of this is a far cry from anything Howe previously experienced as architect-in-chief of Bournemouth’s rise to the Premier League from a lowly ranks of League Two.
“It’s certainly different but they are the same types of feelings; losing hurts and winning is a feeling of relief and contentment,” he said. “I’ve tried not to get caught up in anything I shouldn’t.
“If you look at me behind the scenes, it’s a strange existence. It’s not glamorous in any way. You’re working very hard to improve players and to produce the best team that you can. The emotion and everything you see with people celebrating wins, you’re well away from that so it’s not necessarily what you think it is.”
So how does Howe ensure that all of the fan-fueled emotion and high expectations do not leak into his office at the club’s Benton training base?
“By not listening to it, not getting involved in that emotion,” he said. “When we went on our unbeaten run I was sitting here and you were probably thinking, give us a bit more.
“But then, the other side of it, I am the same: I do feel the emotion. Losing for me is very painful but it is important I don’t get caught up in it because I have another game to prepare for. It is making sure I do my job effectively before the next match.”
