Newcastle United have been a story of unity this season.
Eddie Howe’s side are on the brink of Champions League qualification for the first time in two decades and could seal the deal with just a point against Leicester on Monday.
Everyone appears to be pulling in the same direction.
While a takeover of Newcastle’s nature brings with it so many headlines in terms of potential superstar signings and the like, the club have gone so far so quickly thanks to joined up thinking.
Howe has now revealed he is keen to keep directors Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi close to the squad.
Staveley and Ghodoussi met with squad earlier this month
Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of the Leicester game, Howe shared further details.
The directors were invited to speak to the players as a return to Europe’s top table inched ever closer.
“I invited Amanda and Mehrdad up to speak to the squad, I think it was 10 days ago roughly, just to have that contact with them, with the owners because it’s so important as a club we’re one from top to bottom,” he said (via Yahoo Sports).
“They came in, they spoke to the players, they were absolutely brilliant.
“It was a nice moment, actually, just for everyone in the room to consolidate their thoughts on each other and then try to focus on the last few games that we had, and it made a positive impact on us.”
Those at the top are involved but not too involved
While Staveley has publicly made comments about the level of ambition at the club, it’s hard to paint either her or Ghodoussi as characters too involved in the running of the squad.
Clearly, Howe feels comfortable in having total control of the playing side of things and it certainly doesn’t look like a case of too many cooks spoiling the proverbial broth.
Indeed, these are halcyon days for Newcastle.
There is joined up thinking from the bottom to the top and so many individual parts have played a key role in the rapid-fire rebuild on Tyneside.
Monday night, barring a disaster, feels like the biggest celebration of that to date.
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