When Eddie Howe became Newcastle United manager, he asked Kevin Keegan for advice.
The new Newcastle United manager turned to the old Newcastle United manager, as Eddie Howe sought words of wisdom from a club legend.
It spoke volumes about Eddie Howe’s commitment to the role and his respect for the club, as he went in search of advice from icons like Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer following his appointment at St James’ Park.
Kevin Keegan’s advice to Eddie Howe in 2021
Upon speaking to Keegan, Howe was told one thing he must do with the Newcastle United supporters.
In an interview with the Mirror, Keegan revealed what advice he gave Howe during a conversation in 2021.
“He rang me up at the time [of his appointment] and left a message,” he said.
“I got in touch and he asked me what advice would I give him? The one thing I said was to be honest with the supporters. If you are open and up front with them, he would be fine.”
What Eddie Howe said after Crystal Palace 1 Newcastle 1
Given what Keegan said three years ago, Howe’s comments after Newcastle United’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace are somewhat concerning.
“Successful teams are built on winning 1-0, and our defensive performance today gave us real heart,” he said.
“Away from home, we showed we’ve still got our resilience and our stability within our defending was very strong.
“There were some really good individual performances.
“Our attacking performance was a strange one as well because I thought we were decent with the ball. We moved the ball up the pitch really well, but we sort of stopped towards their box.
“We missed the cutting edge that we had for all of last year, and for whatever reason it has just deserted us at the moment.
“I’m sure that will come back. There was a lot of good parts of our display today.”
Newcastle United fans will disagree with Eddie Howe
I do not think many Newcastle United fans will agree with Eddie Howe’s stance on the Crystal Palace game.
There were some good individual performances. Sandro Tonali played very well in the six, while Dan Burn was outstanding on his return to the starting XI.
However, Newcastle’s attacking display should not be sugar-coated. The Magpies failed to have a shot on target, relying on a Marc Guehi own goal to open the scoring.
Had that been the only goal, it would have been the ideal away performance. Howe is right, our defensive display was very good, until Joelinton switched off in stoppage time.
But goals define games, and Crystal Palace’s equaliser means the draw feels like a loss for Newcastle.
That is reflected in the mood of the fanbase, many of whom are extremely frustrated with the Magpies’ performances. Offensively, we have been extremely poor all season.
It is concerning that Newcastle are struggling to create chances, while Howe’s level-headedness will not go down well with a passionate fanbase who want their manager to be open and honest about their team.
Other than their defensive efforts, there was not much to admire about Newcastle United on Saturday, despite Howe’s assessment.
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