Ian Wright has touched upon the two sides of Eddie Howe while claiming that he’s the perfect fit for Newcastle United.
Eddie Howe has done very little wrong since he came through the doors at St James’ Park and with Newcastle already fighting for a Champions League place in his first full season, it’s hard to imagine anyone doing a better job than what he’s done.
In a superb piece in The Athletic, Alan Shearer interviews Ian Wright and the pair talk about the upcoming clash between Newcastle and Arsenal, during which Ian Wright got very complimentary about our gaffer, saying: “Yeah, but your lot are on the way, Al.
“Eddie Howe is doing unbelievable things. We’ve got to go to St James’ Park this weekend and you saw what they did to Tottenham the other week. Teams are going to Newcastle now and they’re afraid. Eddie has got his guy-next-door face, an altar-boy face, but underneath he’s Clint Eastwood. He is so perfect for them, exactly like Mikel is for us.”
The piece closes out with Alan Shearer telling Wrighty that Newcastle are coming for Arsenal. They’ve just got to ask themselves one think: Do they feel lucky? Well, do they?
I absolutely loved that line from Wrighty that the £60k-a-week manager has the face of an altar-boy but underneath is Clint Eastwood. It’s perfect.
Howe always looks so calm and collected and always comes across that way in interviews, but there’s no way he would be as good a manager as he is without having that switch inside that he can flip when he needs to.
Fans caught a very brief glimpse of Eddie’s darker side a couple of weeks ago when he saw the red mist and confronted Manchester United‘s Erik ten Hag.
There have also been a few games this season, most recently on Sunday, where Newcastle have gone in at half time looking a bit off the pace, then coming out for the second half with fire in their bellies. I refuse to believe that was because Eddie Howe had them all sat round in a meditation circle, passing around the feelings stick.
Football is filled with “what if” moments, and the biggest one looming over Newcastle right now is, what if the PIF landed Unai Emery as planned? He’s done amazing things at Aston Villa since he arrived mid-season, so what would he have done for Newcastle? Would he have had a similar impact? Would he have got us up to 11th last season like Howe did?
It’s a good question, sure, but it’s not one that I ever need answered, personally. I wanted Eddie Howe at Newcastle years before he arrived, and while I admit that I may have been hoping for a “bigger name” when the takeover went through, I genuinely now, don’t believe any other manager could have done what he’s done for us.
Howe just fits Newcastle like a glove. Like that jigsaw piece that the cat knocked under the sofa years ago that you finally found and now the picture is complete.
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