Howe Eddie got to the heart of Toon troubles
ONE-ON-ONES VITAL TO BOSS REVIVING SQUAD
EDDIE HOWE has revealed how a series of heart-toheart talks with his players has helped turn Newcastle into top-four contenders. Today marks the first anniversary of Howe’s appointment as head coach.
At the time, Newcastle were second bottom of the Premier League without a win. Now they are third and have the joint best defensive record in the division, with Nick Pope, below, keeping six clean sheets in 14 league games.
Howe says a key part of his rebuilding was bringing “empathy and understanding” to what his players had been through in their lives. Such bonding allowed the former Bournemouth boss to improve his players, and change the side from passive counter-attackers to a relentless highenergy outfit.
He said: “I did oneon-ones with everyone. It was getting to know the player, the family behind the player. A bit about their history and how they saw their career.
“You need that history before you can help them refix their goals. I found a really hardworking group of players, who wanted to do really well. A group who wanted to be coached, which surprised me.
“Coaching is a delicate one with experienced players. It can go one of two ways – be left alone and just play or, ‘How can you make me better?’ I was so pleased it was the latter.”
It took a couple of months last winter for results to improve, with a win at Leeds in January the turning point. By that time, Howe was already digging deeply into his players’ personalities.
“I can’t treat all 25 players the same,” Howe told The High Performance Podcast. “Different backgrounds, from different countries, their experiences in life and sport are so different. Personalities are different.
“You want them to feel safe in your environment. Being a dad myself helps that challenge. You have empathy and understanding.
“As part of our fines system we have a meeting where a player will tell his story. One of the first things I did was tell mine. I found it quite emotional. We’ve had some brilliant stories by the players. They want to tell things that are very personal to them.
“You can see a player train and on match day, but if you don’t know about them, if they have children or not, the conversation won’t last long. The player will quickly think, ‘You are not interested in me’.
“The best way for the team to do well is for the individual to excel.”