Respect and professional attitude key to Howe plans

EDDIE Howe has made it clear he will not tolerate any inflated egos in the Newcastle dressing room – and has praised his squad for their professionalism.

The Magpies head coach has turned things around at St James’ Park off the pitch as well as on it, going to great lengths to build team chemistry.

United, who face Tottenham Hotspur today (4.30pm kick-off), have escaped the relegation places and are fairly close to securing their Premier League status for another season.

While some players have been away on international duty, the bulk of the squad flew to Dubai for their second warm-weather training camp of the year. The first one was followed by a lengthy unbeaten run of results.

“It comes back to the ‘respect’ word,” Howe said. “If you’re not in the team, you’ve got to respect the player that is in the team and you’ve got to wait for your opportunity, and just how you behave day to day around the place.

“I’ve got to say, we’ve got some very, very good professionals here. If you’ve got great people, you’ve got a chance of creating a great team.”

Howe, who earned plaudits from numerous members of his squad since arriving in November, said that he wants to improve the infrastructure around the players to help them develop further.

And he explained that emotional intelligence and understanding are key to his approach as he looks to get the best out of his players.

“We like to find out about players’ personal lives and their history,” added the former Bournemouth manger.

“There’s a lot I might think I know about a person, but then when they start to talk about themselves and their childhood and certain things that have happened in their life, you find out a totally different view.”