Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe was the talk of the town, and indeed the country last night as he guided the Magpies back to the Champions League and pundit Craig Burley joined in with the praise.
It can not be overstated just how good a job Eddie Howe has done this season with the squad he has.
Some corners of the mainstream media along with football commentators on YouTube will spout the narrative that we’ve done it all because of money, but we know the truth. We know how paltry our spending has been compared to many other clubs, several of which have done a lot worse than Newcastle this season.
Eddie Howe has just got on with the job at hand without moaning
Thankfully, there are still pundits making sense and Craig Burley added hiss voice to that choir last night placing the praise precisely where it belongs – right at Eddie Howe’s feet.
Speaking on ESPN, Burley said: “One thing I’ve been impressed with Eddie Howe, with a bunch of coaches now who moan about playing staff and money and superstars and ‘this is what I’m working with’ is look at some of the guys that have done a job for them. The back four has been pretty steadfast, no real superstars but steadfast.
“You then look at [Miguel] Almiron’s form, then he also had injuries. Joelinton’s form. Alexander Isak had injuries as well. Callum Wilson lost form but regained it. Jacob Murphy has played his part, Sean Longstaff has been excellent. Joe Willock has been fantastic. None of these players would come close to even getting a mention, maybe Isak is the exception, when we’re talking about the top teams.
“He has coached these players and got the best out them. All those players that I mentioned are playing better now than they’ve ever played. Why’s that? Because they’ve got a good support around them but they’ve been coached and they’ve been allowed to play.
“I think Eddie Howe takes great credit for getting the most out of players that were, in all honesty when he arrived, were going through the motions.”
Newcastle’s squad is filled with players you wouldn’t expect to see in the CL
It was some rant from the Scotsman but every word of it was absolutely spot on. The fact that we made the Champions League playing Jacob Murphy, Joelinton, Fabian Schar, Almiron, Longstaff etc is simply phenomenal. And it’s all testament to that man, Eddie Howe. That £60,000-a-week contract just isn’t enough. (It is, that’s an obscene amount of money, but you know what I mean).
It’s not even just the fact that those players were in our squad, it’s the fact that they were so poor last year that we’d happily have seen them all leave the club, but now they’re all heroes.
I always thought Jacob Murphy was a waste of a squad number and I could not see what Eddie Howe saw in him for the longest time, but now, the idea of him not getting to play a part in our Champions League ride next season is borderline traumatising.
There will be a huge squad overhaul in the summer, I’m sure, but hopefully all the players who stepped up and played their part in this magnificent season get to hang around and reap the rewards next year in some capacity.
If Shola Ameobi can boast Champions League football on his CV, then Jacob Murphy should get to as well.
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