It is a week of anniversaries for Eddie Howe and Newcastle United.
While Wednesday was rather gloomy following the Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund, it was also two years to the day that Eddie Howe was announced as Newcastle’s new manager.
When he joined, relegation looked likely. After his first month, it still looked likely. But he guided Newcastle to safety, and has since guided them to the Champions League and to a cup final at Wembley.
The job he has done on Tyneside is remarkable, and testament to his ability as a coach. So many players have improved since working with him, while many were with the club before his appointment.
The likes of Joelinton, Sean Longstaff, Miguel Almiron, Fabian Schar and Jamaal Lascelles look completely different, and that is down to the work of Howe and his coaching team.
On November 9th 2021, he took his first ever training session as Newcastle United manager. On that day, the club released a video of some of the highlights, and it is incredible to watch two years later.
Eddie Howe’s message to Newcastle players two years ago
While Howe now has the luxury of top level players like Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak, that was not the case when he first arrived.
He had to work with what he had, and try to get more out of a group of players that had failed to deliver under Steve Bruce.
Howe had some important messages for his players on that first day of training, and they are messages that can still be seen in our play today.
After a tough period under Bruce, Howe’s session was very different. After noticing something in the session, he told his players: “It’s not a criticism, it’s just a different type of training.”
That different way of training has been the blueprint for Newcastle’s success, and it has led to the Magpies playing some brilliant football.
Howe was keen for his players to become better off the ball. During that first session he told them: “A lot of people are just stood still. Stood still is no good, you’ve got to create the space.”
The Toon boss focussed on his players improving when they didn’t have possession in an attacking sense, but also defensively. Howe introduced a drill where players had to sprint back for a ‘recovery run’, and it is those type of runs that make us one of the hardest working teams around. The session also started with the bleep test, which kicked off the journey to raise fitness levels at Newcastle United.
Howe’s first ever session was exciting to watch at the time, and it is even more exciting now when you look at how far it has taken us.
That message of ‘it’s just a different type of training’ really was the beginning of this incredible journey.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
