· 9 September 2025, 13:30
We can't imagine a world in which Eddie Howe never became Newcastle United manager, such is the amazing job the former Bournemouth man has done.
However, Newcastle almost ended up going in a different direction post-takeover when Unai Emery was offered the role first. Thankfully, the Spaniard turned us down, and Eddie Howe was installed.
Howe took winless Newcastle from 19th in the Premier League to an 11th-place finish in his first half-season at the club, and then followed that up by qualifying for the Champions League a year later.
He's since got us back into that competition and brought silverware to the club for the first time in 56 years. He's already hit legendary status, but Amanda Staveley has now told the High Performance Podcast how things could have been very different.
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Eddie Howe and Amanda Staveley were a great team
Newcastle United left no stone unturned when they found Eddie Howe
In a clip posted on the High Performance Podcast's Instagram, Amanda Staveley shared some insight into the process of bringing in Eddie Howe and she admits that she was told by several people not to hire him after relegating Bournemouth.
“We interviewed over 30 people. We looked at every player, and there were two outstanding candidates. One was Unai Emery and one was Eddie. Eddie was just unbelievable.
“He had a track record of getting up, but he had just been relegated with Bournemouth. There were a lot of people saying to me, because there’s a lot of agents thinking ‘I don’t want them to get Eddie Howe because I don’t get paid’. So they’d be saying ‘that Eddie Howe guy, if you take him you’ll be relegated. Amanda, I know you’re not very well-versed in football, this is very new to you, we don’t want you to look stupid.
“Luckily, you’ve got to rely on your fantastic board, which we had from day one. They were so good.
“Yasir [Al-Rumayyan] has a very good sense and loved Eddie straight away. He didn’t really get to speak to Unai. But it was the perfect manager. He’s just extraordinary.”
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Eddie Howe also made an appearance on the High Performance Podcast
Sometimes the fickle finger of fate is waved, and things turn out for the best. Unai Emery eventually joined Aston Villa and has done an amazing job there, but we wouldn't trade Eddie Howe for anyone.
Even Eddie wasn't put out when he was asked about being Newcastle's second-choice behind Emery, telling the High Performance Podcast in 2022 that if it's not something he can control then he won't waste energy on it.
It's a great outlook to have on life and it's clearly working for Eddie Howe as the man just keeps on winning.