Eddie Howe has written himself into Newcastle folklore after his last few years on Tyneside.
Howe is up there with Bobby Robson as one of Newcastle’s greatest managers of the 21st century after guiding the Magpies back to the Champions League a couple of seasons ago.
Newcastle haven’t quite been able to build upon that fourth-placed finish in 2022/23, but Howe continues to do a solid job and have Newcastle very much in the mix.
Speaking on the Up Front Podcast, Howe has been discussing how he got the Newcastle job, and he says that the club were indeed set to hire Unai Emery before he ultimately landed the role.
Emery ultimately decided to stay at Villarreal around that time.
This left the door open for Howe to get the job, despite the fact he’d been told only one day prior that Newcastle were going to hire Emery.
Unai Emery, Manager of Aston Villa, acknowledges the fans prior to the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Aston Villa and Crystal Palace at Vil...
Photo by Aston Villa/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
Newcastle were set to hire Unai Emery
Howe says that he was told that Emery was getting the job before Newcastle decided to hire Howe.
Roberto Martinez was also linked with Newcastle at this time, but Howe says this was a two-horse race between himself and Emery.
“I got a phone call to say I knew it was a two-horse race in the end between me and Unai and Unai is someone that has got an unbelievable CV. So as soon as I knew there was two of us, I knew I’d lost because of the other guy and his CV is unbelievable,” Howe said.
“So I sort of knew what was going to happen. I then got the call to say that, unfortunately, we’re going to go in a different direction. And I understood.
“There was no ill feeling or grudges. And then when I got the call the next day, I was just delighted, what a moment, what an opportunity for me.”
Eddie Howe compared to Unai Emery
Howe and Emery are two top managers, and it’s interesting to compare their respective records at Aston Villa and Newcastle.
Villa and Newcastle are the two sides that have managed to gatecrash the top four in recent years, and they’ve come a long way in that time.
Emery has earned huge praise for the job he has done at Villa.
Howe took charge of Newcastle when they were rock bottom of the Premier League, while Emery took over at Villa when they were trying to fight off relegation too.
The stats suggest that Emery is doing a slightly better job than Howe, but, as ever, context is key.
Eddie Howe at Newcastle Unai Emery at Aston Villa
Games 142 104
Wins 70 54
Draws 32 21
Losses 40 29
Win percentage 49% 52%
Highest finish 4th 4th
Highest points tally 71 68
Emery may have a better win record, but Howe did have a serious injury crisis to deal with last season, while Newcastle were in a worse position when he first took charge.
Regardless of who you may think is better, both of these managers have done fantastic jobs in recent years and they deserve to be commended.
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