Goodbye Eddie

Goodbye Eddie Howe, Though I never knew you at all…

To me you were (are) one of the good guys and that is important to me. I want to see good people doing well and in my book you did a good job. You embodied everything that I believe in leadership. When Newcastle United did well you would be at the back and let the players take the kudos. When things went bad you would step to the front and accept the responsibility. 

Your comments were measured and always polite. I don’t recall ever hearing you say something bad about one of your players.

As you can see, I hold you in high esteem but every dog has its day and now you have gone. It’s a shame yet at least you got a say in the time of your departure. Not many football managers, like politicians, get such luxury.

Managing a football club must be hard. Unless you win, you can never win. Expectation from the fans and the media will always exceed your ability to deliver. This is so true of a team such as Newcastle, where expectations can never be met. 

The truth is, in my head at least, that the club is in the second tier of the Premier League. It is not one of the big clubs and so can never attract the top players. When it does get someone of exceptional talent they eventually leave for one of the global clubs such as Madrid, PSG or Arsenal. Other clubs are available.

In some seasons, Newcastle will play above its ability and win something such as the Carabao Cup or secure a place in the Champions League. The next season, probably due to the fixture congestion, they will play below their ability and languish just above the drop zone. The city’s geography doesn’t help either, too far from the country’s major conurbations and Europe’s footballing heartlands.

Unless you go back to the 1950’s it was ever thus and so it will ever be. 

But football moves on and I am already getting excited for next season (only a few days away). We now have Matthias Jaissle in charge, building a new team from the remains of last season, with some new players coming on board. Let’s see how he gets on.

Thank you Eddie and good luck in whatever you end up doing. I for one will miss you.