Hotel analysis and brutal bleep tests – inside Eddie Howe’s Newcastle revolution
Manager worked 13-hour days remotely to install a tough but collaborative plan to save bottom side from drop
⮞isolating
Video chats and remote substitutions
Asked to sum up his start as Newcastle United manager in one word, Eddie Howe decided on “challenging” – and that does not simply apply to the task of resuscitating a team bottom of the Premier League and without a win in five months.
Howe’s positive test for Covid-19 a week ago not only robbed him of the chance to introduce himself to the St James’ Park crowd for the game against Brentford – a blow for a manager who has made weaponising Newcastle’s fan base one of his key priorities in the battle against relegation – but put a severe dent in his plans to recalibrate his side through intensive work on the training field.
Howe tested negative yesterday, meaning he will be in the dugout at Arsenal today, but he managed to make his presence keenly felt despite spending the past week in a hotel room. He was in constant dialogue with first-team coach Stephen Purches during the 3-3 draw with Brentford and was able to relay tactical messages in real time, as well as order substitutions.
Subsequently, he has delivered video messages to every player and carried out hours of video analysis. He has watched countless Arsenal games back, as well as Newcastle ones. He has watched every single training session live, via a video stream, and often twice for further analysis. Before his isolation, Howe was spending upwards of 13 hours a day at the training ground. His working hours did not reduce this week, but all he could rely on was a screen and remote instructions.
Communication and delegation
Howe has made communication with his players one of his core principles – indeed, he spent so much of his first week barking instructions on the training field, and in quieter conversations with his players, that he briefly lost his voice. He may not have been present in person, but there were multiple conversations with players over the phone, offering feedback on what he liked and did not like against Brentford.
Ultimately, however, he had to delegate much of the communication to his staff, who spent most of the week focusing on team shape and defensive structure.
Howe trusted lieutenants such as Jason Tindall for most of this work, but – prior to his positive test – he had also made every effort to speak one-on-one with other staff members, getting to know them and to tap into their knowledge. Figures at the club have been impressed, with one describing him as “bright, attentive and knowledgeable”.
He has spoken to people about every area of the club. He asked questions about the city and the region. He listened intently to everything, with a habit of staying silent, not interrupting when someone else talked, letting them fill the silence if there was one.
There were visits to the academy to talk to staff there, too. He watched the youth teams train and play, and is understood to have been particularly impressed by the potential of Elliot Anderson, the 19-year-old attacking midfielder who scored a hat-trick for the Under-23s this week. He knew all about him when he walked through the door, which impressed his current coaches. There are others he wants to keep a close eye on. Several young players will be brought in to train with the senior side in the coming weeks so he can have a closer look at them against established first-team players.
“His interest is genuine, he wants to know about the club, its history, former managers, what they did well, what they did badly,” a source said. “He has been like a sponge. He gives the impression of someone who wants to listen and learn, as well as knowing what he wants and how he wants it to be done.
“We were told about his work ethic before he arrived, so that’s not a surprise, but his people skills have been obvious. He commands respect, but is not aloof. He is direct in his communication, there is no room for doubt or misunderstanding.
‘We were told about his work ethic, so that is no surprise, but his people skills have been obvious’
Trust is very important to him. I don’t think you’d want to be on the receiving end if he feels that trust in you has been misplaced.”
Varied training sessions and exhausted players
It is on the training pitch that Howe feels most comfortable, which is why his confinement to a single room has been so tough.
The sessions have been described as “intense and focused”, and remained the same in his absence. There are regular pauses in action, so Howe – or, latterly, Tindall – can talk to players, individually or collectively, to explain precisely what is wanted. On occasions, he will join in to illustrate the point in a drill, which is one of the benefits of still being a relatively young manager.
He is not looking to reinvent the wheel, but is meticulous, with a clear focus on his preferred style of play. Bravery on the ball is being preached, as well as the confidence to take risks in the final third.
The overriding mantra is “we train as we play”. Some have been so tired after the more gruelling sessions that they have gone straight to bed when they get home. Players have described the two weeks before the Brentford game as like a mini pre-season training camp, but have also been impressed by the variation of the sessions. It is not repetitive training.
There has been a brutal bleep test to assess individual fitness and some blunt words for those who fell short of the expected standard. But there have also been days off. Howe will not overwork players for the sake of
making an impression or stamping his authority on things.
He just felt the squad, as a whole, needed to be fitter and sharper. He has asked for every session, whether match-based or coaching drill, to be played at full match speed.
Otherwise, many of the pre-existing routines have remained the same. There are fines for lateness, standards of dress need to be maintained. The team are encouraged to eat meals together, inside and away from the training ground. He was fully supportive of a team night out over the international break to ensure team bonding, and has done the same with a lunch for staff.
Planning for the future
There is more to come. Howe does not want to talk about the January transfer window, budgets or where the team need to be strengthened. But plans are being made and every single member of the squad is being constantly assessed.
He will be ruthless when he needs to be. Survival fears haunt everyone at Newcastle, and talk of clean slates is only temporary.
The Brentford match did not reveal much that Howe did not already know. Newcastle have some quality attacking players and are a threat going forward. It is stopping the other team scoring while maintaining that goal threat that has been the problem for the past four years.
Howe is trying to change that, even when he has been staring at the same four walls. This has not been an easy week, but it has not stopped him working tirelessly to try to secure that elusive first win.