Eddie Howe recently celebrated three years in charge of Newcastle United.
In the modern age of football, that is quite an impressive feat.
Indeed, to suggest it’s all been plain sailing for Howe at Newcastle would of course be overlooking some of their struggles both this season and last.
Still, it can surely be generally accepted that the Newcastle United manager has done a fine job at St James’ Park.
Howe, after all, led Newcastle to a first domestic cup final in a generation and back into the Champions League after a two-decade absence during his first full season in the job.
While things have proven more difficult since, he has delivered some fantastic nights. Newcastle have generally become a powerhouse at home and have beaten both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, high-flying Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain under his watch.
There have been links with other managers – namely a certain Jose Mourinho – but the club’s PIF owners are understood to be happy with their man in the dugout.
Such is the nature of the game, however, there have always been doubters.
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Now, Howe has responded to one of them.
Eddie Howe responds to what Simon Jordan said about his long-term Newcastle future
Former Crystal Palace owner and pundit Simon Jordan has previously cast doubt on Howe’s long-term future at the club, suggesting he is perhaps not the guarantee of silverware the Newcastle United owners might be looking for.
Back in November 2023, Jordan suggested Howe was a “gatekeeper” before a bigger name comes in, saying: “My belief system tells me that Newcastle will go on a journey.
Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan answers questions during a press conference held to announce Trevor Francis being named manager at Selhurst Pa...
30 Nov 2001: Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan answers questions during a press conference held to announce Trevor Francis being named manager …
“Eddie Howe will be a wonderful part of that journey but like other football clubs that have required gatekeepers to get you to different waypoints and different benchmarks, Howe may be one of those.
“If I’m wrong, I’m happy to back down from that. To win the Premier League takes a unique kind of manager and there ain’t many of them about.”
During an interview between the two released on Jordan’s Up Front Podcast earlier this week, that comment was put to Howe.
He replied: “Yeah, I’ve always been of that mindset because wasted emotion, wasted energy thinking or what if I’m a gatekeeper, as you call it, what if this happens, that, you can’t influence it.
“All I can influence is trying to win games and my best chance of staying in the role and being the guy that can take the club forward long term is to win matches. So all my focus, all my energy goes on that and I’m a great believer in the end result or be the end result.
“All I can do is give my best.”
What PIF really think about Eddie Howe at Newcastle
Clearly, Howe is never likely to come out and say he pays too much attention to what people say about him. To do that would be mightily draining.
The only thing that matters really is what the owners think about him. Luckily, they reportedly back the former Bournemouth boss to the hilt despite a turbulent summer for the club.
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