Demoman: Eddie Howe planned the Spurs crash and toasted it with a cup of tea. Photo: Action Images via Reuters
When Eddie Howe said he would celebrate Newcastle United's 6-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur with a cup of tea and biscuits, it was just a one-time phrase. But, like so much of what Howe says and does, it's perfect for Tyneside.
While others headed to the city's bars and nightclubs on Sunday night to celebrate an incredible performance and result, Howe headed home to watch the game against the Spurs in full — with tea and biscuits.
He helped put his three excitable kids to bed, but other than that, it was more work; more analysis; more thoughts about what's next.
While others barely managed to stay up to watch the Day 2 match and hungover heading off to work or college, feeling exhausted on a Monday morning, Howe was already in bed after gulping down several packets of Everton rivals' highlights on Thursday evening. <. /p>
On Monday, as usual, he got up at 6 am. After training in the gym with Newcastle's strength and conditioning coach, he spent most of the day analyzing Everton's games this season.
Job well done: Hou and his people. Photo: Alex Livesey, Danehouse/Getty Images
It's an exciting, intoxicating time at Tyneside. People are in love with the city's football team, and matchdays are like a carnival. Nowadays, every game at St. James' Park is like a day off. Geordies know how to work hard and play harder. It is part of the culture and has been around for hundreds of years.
Howe just knows how to work. This makes them love him even more, this humble, thoughtful, diligent manager who instinctively knows what drives them and the team.
Kevin Keegan was a bag of emotions ready to spill. Bobby Robson was a gentleman, a knight of the realm and a man of the Northeast. Howe has had the same impact as the two managerial titans of Newcastle's past, but he has done so in his own reserved manner.
Unlike the two, he is largely invisible in and out of the city and wouldn't want it any other way.
One of the funniest anecdotes about Howe is the disguise he wears whenever he leaves the house: a large coat buttoned up to his chin and a wool cap pulled down over his eyebrows. In this regard, it suits the cold local climate.
Privately, he joked that it looks ridiculous, but it allows him to walk his dog in relative anonymity or watch his boys play football for local teams. Walking the dog to the large, sparsely populated coast of Northumberland is almost as close to him as a day off.
Howe doesn't go shopping in town, except maybe to have lunch with someone from time to time. friend, he hasn't seen any of the city's famous nightlife.
He certainly doesn't go to any bars or clubs or seek fame, notoriety or adulation away from St. James's Park. He doesn't even enjoy winning for very long.
A 45 year old man won't mind if I say this, but he's happy to be "boring". His life can be divided into two parts: football and family. There really is nothing else. This is one of the main reasons why he has been so successful as Newcastle manager.
The work consumes him, and, by his own admission, his family time is shortened because of it. He is obsessed with play, work, and the constant pursuit of improvement. He spends all his free time with his wife Vika and three sons.
He always finds time to spend an evening with them, but his thoughts are never far from what needs to be done for the team and other family he has at the training ground.
His message is simple: always important next game. It's always the next game to focus on. No more, no less. This is a message that is constantly instilled into the players.
It would be easy to get carried away with how well things have been going over the last 12 months. It would be tempting if players started believing in their advertising or enjoying their fame too much, but the band behaved decently.
Newcastle United co-owner Jamie Reuben congratulates key man Kieran Trippier. Photo: Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images. Kieran Trippier.
But Howe had no tolerance for excesses or bad behavior. He expects players to practice as they play, day after day. They give days off, they allow fun very much, but when they are at the training ground, they work and work hard.
He's on his feet, but this fight gets tougher when you have results like last weekend. This is something Howe focuses on, realizing that success can hurt young people with so many distractions.
“I think we can afford to look only ahead, just like in everyday life,” Howe said after the victory over Tottenham. “And make sure we come in with the right mindset and thinking about our next show and how we could improve tonight’s [Sunday] show.
“I have always worked this way. You take the good parts and you take the parts that can be improved, and then you try to lay the foundations to allow you to improve, which we will.
«This can't be [the pinnacle of our season, beating the Spurs» 6:1), you are absolutely right. We have a lot of work, a lot of games ahead, a lot of points, so nothing has been decided today. In any case, nothing will be decided.
“But hopefully we can take all the positive things out of today in terms of performance, confidence and use that to fuel us in these games that we have to go through. So no, nothing has been done.”
Asked if it's getting harder to stay on your feet, Howe replied, “I hope it's self-control. I think we have enough experience and enough experience of the ups and downs of football to know that you can never go too far or get carried away with what you have done.
“Of course, from my point of view, I have said many times that I don’t have a problem with climbs, because there have been so many falls in my playing career. I'm already focused on Everton and making sure we do everything in our power to win this game and I encourage the players to do the same.»
Howe will let the fans dream, he wants them to enjoy the ride and celebrate every victory with pleasure. But he won't do the same, and if it makes him boring, he won't want to go any other way. Newcastle fans wouldn't want him to change either. This is Howe's way.
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