Newcastle United writers Liam Kennedy, Dominic Scurr and Jordan Cronin bring the insights of the Geordie Journos to Shots! TV. Here, they discuss what Eddie Howe needs to improve on for the 2024/25 season.
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00:00Eddie Howe, might not like to admit it himself, is probably just in that band below Elite.
00:05Well, we're not experts.
00:08You're an expert.
00:09I mean, I haven't got coaching badges or anything like that.
00:12Put pressure on people. You've got five minutes. He didn't.
00:16I think he has to learn lessons from that.
00:23We're back. It's your Geordie Journals.
00:26There's only two this week for your regular Shots TV 10.30pm slot.
00:32It's not 10.30, right?
00:33It isn't.
00:34It's not live.
00:36It's not an amazingly light night on Tyneside.
00:40But we thought we'd obviously have to record these things slightly in advance.
00:44I know. Elliot Anderson.
00:47Yeah, so Elliot Anderson had disappeared by the time our video went out last time.
00:53But, fingers crossed, you'll all be able to catch this on Freeview.
00:57Yeah?
00:58Yes.
00:59And also Catch Up as well, if you need it.
01:02Right, this week's topic of conversation.
01:05What are we going for, Dom?
01:06It's Eddie Howe. He's the man.
01:09It's a shame we can't ask Jordan his opinions.
01:11Yes, Jordan is in sunnier climes.
01:14Sunnier climes.
01:16We all wish we were Jordan this week.
01:18Yes.
01:19But, yeah, it's sunny enough for the moment.
01:22But, yeah, Eddie Howe, the main man.
01:24And where are we? People might not know where we are.
01:26Well, I think it's obvious.
01:28We'll be walking up these steps soon.
01:29A lot of you may be walking up these steps.
01:31This is the Gallagher, the southeast, well, Strawberry Corner.
01:34Strawberry Corner, isn't it?
01:35As it's better known.
01:37Yeah, so in a few weeks' time, about a month's time, a little over,
01:41we'll have the Sella Weekender,
01:43and then the Premier League season starts on the 17th of August.
01:47At home to Southampton.
01:49Southampton on the first day.
01:52It's a big test, isn't it, really?
01:54Because it's a bit like Forrest a couple of years ago.
01:57The play-off winners, a bit of an unknown quantity.
02:00There's a potential of certain players coming back as well.
02:04So we'll see what happens there.
02:07No, I think it's a big first few weeks for Newcastle United.
02:10They need to get off on the right foot.
02:12They have done in recent years, so I expect they will.
02:15Home game, Roke at St James' Park.
02:17I'm sure everybody will be bang up for that day.
02:19Fingers crossed, there will definitely be a fair few new signings,
02:22I would imagine, in the door by the time everybody gets back
02:26and has woken up some of these iconic stares at St James' Park.
02:29There's already been a few as well,
02:31which we'll get a closer look at in pre-season.
02:33So, yeah, the big one, Eddie Howe, he's the main man.
02:36Last season was so up and down.
02:38If you follow us on YouTube, you were Eddie Howe in Eddie Howe.
02:43Ooh, I'm not so sure.
02:45There was a range of emotions.
02:47I think Newcastle fans will have felt it too.
02:49There were times where there were big question marks over Eddie Howe,
02:53but then I think towards the end, he definitely regained some of that trust.
02:57That coming 7th, OK, Newcastle missed out on Europe,
03:00but it was a relatively strong end to the season.
03:03I'm firmly a believer in Eddie Howe, and I've got faith in Eddie Howe.
03:07I don't know how you're thinking after the season Newcastle have just had.
03:10No, very much so as well.
03:12That's the main topic of conversation on this,
03:14is I'm very much Eddie Howe in, never been out.
03:17I think he's always had to grow and adapt,
03:19and I think that's the next part that's needed,
03:22is has he learned some lessons from what in many ways, as you mentioned,
03:27was a rollercoaster season.
03:29There were lots of minor ups and some quite big dips, I thought,
03:34during the season.
03:35How do you negate some of those dips, and how do you make them less dippy?
03:40So this is Eddie Howe, if you're watching this.
03:43This is our take from a...
03:46Well, we're not experts.
03:48You're an expert.
03:50I mean, I haven't got coaching badges or anything like that.
03:53So I think Eddie Howe, if he's watching,
03:56would take our advice to him with a huge pinch of salt.
03:59But this is what we think Eddie Howe could learn from last season
04:03or could improve on this coming season.
04:05I think lessons have got to be learned.
04:07This is our little mini, we don't know how many points yet,
04:09but there's a definite point plan as to what we think
04:12Cassie and Eddie need to do from now on in to improve this.
04:16This is the Geordie Journos plan.
04:19As you expect, we do some waffling.
04:21So my first point, and I think it's the most obvious point
04:23that everybody else out there will be feeling too,
04:26is that injuries is the key, was the common denominator
04:30throughout the season.
04:31And we've already seen little flashes of injuries already.
04:34Not even in pre-season yet, and there's already flashes of injuries.
04:38Lewis Miley is going to be out for some time.
04:40It's a big blow for him.
04:41It's a big season.
04:42It sounds to me like he's been trying too hard to come back,
04:44having missed the last few months of the season
04:46with a problem that he had.
04:47He's went and broken his foot,
04:49and it's going to keep him out for a little while.
04:51But we're playing it safe, weren't we, towards the back end?
04:54Because I remember speaking to Eddie Howe,
04:56he said he could probably play again this season,
04:59but it was just a case of get him rested up,
05:02get him ready for pre-season.
05:03Now he's going to miss all of it.
05:04Yeah, they sent the lad on holiday, didn't they?
05:06They sent him away, I think he went to Dubai,
05:07and it was just like, go on, you relax up,
05:1017, played a lot of games, now 18, ready to hit it fresh
05:13and start the season, and bad luck again.
05:16When does bad luck go from being freak accidents
05:20to a common denominator, as I mentioned,
05:23and it's one thing that they have to learn from.
05:25I think the intensity of the way that Newcastle United play
05:28isn't conducive to keeping players fit consistently.
05:32Look, there's facets to this in many ways,
05:35but I think they have to learn lessons from that.
05:37To expect it just to cross your fingers
05:40and hope it'll be better by doing the same methods next season
05:43is fraught with danger, in my opinion.
05:46I think if they go about things the same way,
05:49with the same training methods, the same recovery methods,
05:51the same levels of intensity,
05:53yes, there's less games next season,
05:55that's going to be a big factor.
05:57But I think doing the same things,
06:00expecting different results in any walk of life,
06:03whether that be in the Geordie Journos world,
06:05or whether that be Newcastle United or St James' Park,
06:07where we are now, I think is really, really dangerous.
06:10So there was talk last season of being some kind of
06:14deep-dive analysis into what has gone wrong.
06:17I think Eddie Howard-Times last season admitted
06:20that he probably got things wrong.
06:22He literally said as much on the record,
06:24he said there has been mistakes,
06:26but he didn't point fingers as such,
06:29he said it's a collective responsibility.
06:31Yeah.
06:32And I think Sven Botman is probably a prime example
06:35where some of it was to do with Eddie Howe,
06:38the medical team, Sven Botman himself,
06:40he's probably the prime example
06:42of a mismanaged injury from last season.
06:44And it's unfortunate that he obviously got that setback
06:47and will miss the large chunk of the first half of the season.
06:50Quite iconic, even to hear that bird chirping away in the background.
06:52It's actually a magpie.
06:54I don't know what it's shouting at.
06:56Do magpies shout?
06:58It's sweet.
07:01No, I think injuries for me is the real one
07:04that they've got to learn from.
07:06I hope he does.
07:07I think it's the one thing that undermined the whole season,
07:10I think, without certain injuries.
07:12And it wasn't the freak ones that concerned me the most.
07:16It wasn't the Nick Pope getting injured
07:18and popping his shoulder out.
07:20It wasn't Dan Byrne breaking his back,
07:22Elliot Anderson last season doing the same thing.
07:24It was Joe Linton being brought back too soon.
07:26Twice.
07:27Twice.
07:28Dan Byrne was brought back very soon from that broken back.
07:31Fortunately, they got away with it.
07:33They got away with it.
07:34Dan Byrne's form may have suffered slightly,
07:36but he didn't suffer another injury on the back of it.
07:38And Sven Botman, wherever that blame may lie,
07:41there was a lot of talk that it wasn't the club,
07:43it was the player himself who decided,
07:45I want to play on.
07:46Look, your medical experts, take it out of the player's hands.
07:48It's not right, get him sorted.
07:50And they paid a price for that.
07:52They're struggling now, and he's not going to be fit
07:54for the start of the season.
07:55In a fresh season, because of that management of that injury,
07:57he did his knee.
07:59He played against AC Milan in the first Champions League game
08:03and at Sheffield United in that 8-0 game.
08:06Brentford, I think.
08:07Was it?
08:08Did he miss?
08:09Brentford might have been in the game,
08:11but yeah, AC Milan and Sheffield.
08:13He played in those games with a damaged knee
08:15and played really well.
08:16Scored, didn't he?
08:17Against Sheffield United.
08:18Scored, but it ultimately cost him
08:21because he wasn't the same player again.
08:23That's where it's got to change,
08:24the management of injuries has got to be better.
08:27Yeah.
08:28You can't legislate for a freak injury in a game.
08:31Nick Poole popping his shoulder, you can't legislate for that.
08:34It happens.
08:35Lewis Miley damaging himself on a run.
08:37Is Jacob Murphy dislocating his shoulder
08:39and then playing him again 10 days later,
08:41is that a freak injury or is that mismanagement?
08:44But again, that was management of the injury.
08:46He was either fit to play or he wasn't,
08:48and he clearly wasn't.
08:49It was so precarious, that shoulder,
08:53that it popped out with the slightest bit running.
08:55Minutes after coming on.
08:56It was, it was 90 seconds after he'd come on,
08:58he went on a run and suddenly,
09:00I think it was the slightest pressure from a defender, it went.
09:02So it's got to be that,
09:04it's got to be the identification of injuries
09:07and it's got to be the management of them too.
09:09Yes.
09:10Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp said,
09:12the way Newcastle are managing their squad is almost ridiculous.
09:16It goes against the norm,
09:18where they were playing well at the time,
09:20in the Champions League and the Premier League,
09:22being competitive on all fronts,
09:24with almost the same 11.
09:26Teams in the Premier League these days,
09:28it takes 16 players to win a game,
09:29it takes you five substitutes.
09:31And Eddie Howe was using almost 11 players,
09:34a Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday,
09:37Tuesday, Saturday, or Sunday, whenever.
09:40And they were still getting results
09:42and it almost defied anything Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp,
09:45these elite managers, had known about football.
09:48And one thing that stuck with me,
09:50towards the back end of last season,
09:52in their FA Cup after Man City knocked Newcastle out,
09:55was Pep Guardiola saying,
09:57Newcastle will learn lessons this season
09:59from being in Europe, playing those games,
10:01and managing the squad.
10:02A player like Fabian Scheer,
10:04who, to be honest, Pep Guardiola,
10:07the name checked him, but he's a player
10:09who is very durable and plays most weeks.
10:11But he said he'll be a player now
10:15who was at the real top level,
10:17I thought he was good last season,
10:19but the season before he was one of the best defenders
10:21in the Premier League, playing Saturday, Saturday,
10:23Sunday, Saturday, type thing.
10:25And getting back to that will be important,
10:27and what I would say is, two seasons ago,
10:30Newcastle's injury record was actually very good,
10:33so Eddie Howe has to manage the injuries better,
10:37has to learn better, but there is a past example
10:41of Newcastle's injury record being fairly good.
10:44I think they got away with it the season before.
10:47So a match five not changing pretty much all season
10:50was the key to Newcastle's success in many ways.
10:52I remember mentioning on social media
10:54that they got very lucky with injuries that year,
10:56and being shot down by people saying,
10:58but Alan St-Maximin missed X amount of games,
11:00and Callum Wilson missed X amount of games,
11:02and Alexander Isak missed it, and they did,
11:04that was fair, but to have a goalkeeper
11:06right-back, left-back, and two centre-halves
11:08who played 95% of the games all season
11:10is almost unheard of in an area
11:12where injury is quite common.
11:15Defenders take knocks, they miss a game here or there,
11:18it didn't happen, they get suspensions
11:20for bootings and send-ins off,
11:22it didn't happen, really, over the whole season.
11:24And that continuity, that trust that then was built up
11:27produced one of the best back lines
11:29that the Premier League's seen in the modern era.
11:31They didn't concede goals at all,
11:33they didn't have that continuity last season,
11:36and it really made a big difference.
11:38So it's that management of injuries.
11:40I think that's the first point,
11:42we'll wrap it up there for part one.
11:44We'll see you in a bit after that break for part two.
12:04Welcome back for part two of your Geordie Journals
12:07on Shots TV.
12:09We've been speaking about the lessons Eddie Howe could learn
12:12and what we think he could potentially do better
12:15for Newcastle United this coming season.
12:17We talked about injuries in part one.
12:19Liam, what else do you want to talk about now?
12:22So I think there's a few little minor things moving forward,
12:27and I think my first key point would be in-game management.
12:32Yes. Thoughts on that one?
12:34No, no, I think there was a few occasions last season,
12:37as we spoke about in the first part,
12:40where Newcastle, it was almost so frustrating
12:45that Eddie Howe's hands were tied at times.
12:49In terms of his bench, there was young lads on the bench,
12:52or there was your Paul Dumitz, Matt Ritchies,
12:55who can't really change games in a positive manner.
12:58I think Matt Ritchie probably did that one time against Bournemouth.
13:01But there was probably games...
13:03I'll go back to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup quarter-final,
13:07when you've got a few knocks.
13:09Anthony Gordon was a dead man walking.
13:11He couldn't run.
13:13Was it Almiron in the same game?
13:15He couldn't run.
13:17And that was the time where the injuries were cropping up,
13:20and you had Lewis Hall on the bench, who was eligible to play.
13:23You had young lads on the bench.
13:25He brings on Matt Ritchie, who again couldn't really run.
13:28And I think it saw Newcastle go on the back foot,
13:32and this is highlighting one game,
13:34but I think it happened a few times throughout the season
13:37where Eddie Howe's in-game management was called into question.
13:42There was one game in particular
13:44where it looked like Newcastle's season would pretty much be over.
13:49And this maybe is an argument against the point we're trying to make,
13:53but Eddie Howe wasn't making the changes at the time,
13:57and the way Newcastle started the game against West Ham United
14:00here at St James' Park back in the end of March,
14:05there were three-one down,
14:07and then Eddie Howe did make a couple of changes.
14:11But I don't know, do you think it was good fortune,
14:15or do you think that was good management from Eddie Howe?
14:18Because that's probably the one example,
14:20almost the exception to the rule,
14:22where Eddie Howe's made changes and they've worked wonders.
14:26Yeah, so the one in my head obviously is that West Ham game
14:30where it was remarkable, the comeback.
14:33It was almost like a feather in the cap at the end of the game for him.
14:36It was like, your changes have massively impacted the outcome of this game.
14:40But I did feel they were forced upon him in the game.
14:42I think the changes that he initially made weren't big changes to the game.
14:49It was almost then injuries that went on from that
14:51that he was forced to bring on Harvey Barnes,
14:53who ended up having such a big impact on other players.
14:55So that for me is another one that sticks with me.
14:57I can count on one hand the amount of times
14:59that I think that Eddie Howe has actually made a big impact on a game.
15:02That was an outlier rather than the common thing.
15:05I think you said it off air,
15:07come on, Eddie, we want you to be more West Ham and not PSG or Chelsea.
15:13And again, you mentioned his hands were tied,
15:15but we were both over there in Paris with Jordan,
15:18and I haven't got a lot of hair left,
15:20but I was pulling the rest of it out almost,
15:22to think like, please give those lads...
15:25Alexander Isak in that Paris game couldn't move.
15:28And it ties back to the injury management, doesn't it?
15:31It is, it is. It's all linked.
15:33It's players dead on their feet having to get through 90 minutes.
15:37At that time, I was just so desperate.
15:39It was like, just put somebody on and say,
15:41go on, son, have a run.
15:43Just go and chase that ball.
15:45Just run on there like a dog chasing a ball.
15:47Just go and put pressure on people.
15:49You've got five minutes. He didn't.
15:51And I think he has to learn lessons from that.
15:53The Chelsea game down at Stamford Bridge,
15:55the changes weren't there.
15:57Newcastle were just sucked further and further towards their own goal.
16:00We want to see positivity.
16:02Go and impact games in a positive manner off the bench.
16:05It's what defines elite managers, isn't it?
16:07Where Eddie Howe, might not like to admit it himself,
16:10is probably just in that band below elite.
16:13And it's what defines elite managers.
16:15You saw Liverpool come here last season,
16:17down to ten men, staring defeat in the face.
16:20Newcastle 1-0 up with eight minutes of normal time left.
16:23Brings on Darwin Nunes, makes a couple of changes.
16:26Eddie Howe takes Anthony Gordon off,
16:28who was Newcastle's best player,
16:30tearing Trent Alexander-Arnold apart,
16:32who was on a booking.
16:34Eddie Howe takes him off.
16:36Jurgen Klopp brings on players
16:38who ultimately change the course of the game.
16:40Look, you didn't have those options on the bench.
16:43It's not necessarily that.
16:44I'll use Liverpool as the same example.
16:46You go back to the Carabao Cup final.
16:48Liverpool didn't have those high-profile options on the bench.
16:51Jurgen Klopp still turned to his kids.
16:54He was throwing Dan's on up front.
16:56Were the games still to win?
16:58Liverpool weren't in control of that game,
17:00going to still win the game.
17:01He trusted his kids to go out there and do it.
17:03Look, this is probably a different video altogether.
17:06You can't say don't have the levels and layers
17:08upon players that Liverpool have,
17:10or many of the other teams in the Premier League.
17:12But still, if they're good enough to be in the squad,
17:14you've got to trust them on the pitch.
17:16And when your players have nothing left,
17:18when they're firing, they've got nothing,
17:20they're running on empty,
17:22you can give us five minutes.
17:24He did it at Bournemouth.
17:25He threw Ben Parkinson on and said,
17:27give us five minutes when the game was gone.
17:29He should have probably done that a little bit more in games.
17:31Look, he's not perfect, none of us are.
17:33This is a hyper-critical video.
17:36We're critical friends.
17:38That's how I would describe us.
17:39Constructive criticism for Eddie.
17:41It's better with your words than me.
17:43We'd appreciate...
17:44Well, we might not always appreciate,
17:46but constructive criticism in the comments,
17:48we often get that.
17:49So, yeah, on that, there was games last season,
17:51a lot of fans felt it, you felt it.
17:53I mean, there was question marks over Lewis Hall, for example,
17:56who's a player I know we're all excited about watching.
18:00First half of the season, he did get a few run-outs
18:03and he did look a player a little bit off,
18:06but he's 19 years old.
18:08You have to trust him and you think,
18:10once Lewis Hall got a run of games,
18:12he looked great and he really developed.
18:15Maybe he needed that time to develop,
18:17but there were certainly games earlier in the season
18:20when Dan Byrne was really struggling.
18:22Eddie Howe would rather play Dan Byrne with a broken back
18:25than Lewis Hall.
18:27I think that moves us on to our next point a little bit,
18:30where Eddie Howe just wants the feeling we get,
18:34and he may disagree with this,
18:36he wants control.
18:38He's a bit of a control freak,
18:40and that can work wonders for managers at times,
18:42but I think he needs to just relinquish some of that control
18:46and trust his players, trust his staff as well,
18:49which I'm sure he does to a degree.
18:51But then you've got Paul Mitchell coming in
18:54as a sporting director,
18:56and the sort of information we got regarding Dan Ashworth
19:00was that was never...
19:03In terms of a working relationship,
19:05it never really quite worked because of the way
19:08Eddie Howe wanted that full control,
19:10and I think it's something, moving forward,
19:12in terms of transfers,
19:14you just have to trust the people who are in there,
19:17and Eddie Howe is probably a bit old-school in that way,
19:20where he wants full control.
19:22He is the manager of the club, but he's not.
19:24He's the head coach.
19:25He wants to focus on coaching the team.
19:27He's not acting like a head coach?
19:29No.
19:30That's the top and bottom of it.
19:31We've all realised that.
19:32Anybody who's got any knowledge of the slightest work
19:35in St James' Park knows that Eddie Howe wants control.
19:39I think we've mentioned it on these videos previously,
19:41whether it be on YouTube or on Shots TV,
19:43that Eddie Howe would probably prefer
19:47not to have those layers of football executives above him.
19:50He kind of just wants to run it like Sir Alex Ferguson did,
19:54like Sir Bobby Robson did,
19:56like Brian Clough, whoever it may be.
19:58Somebody like that, that's what they want.
20:00But it doesn't work like that.
20:01Football is a different business these days
20:03to what it used to be.
20:04The risk and reward is huge.
20:06If you get something wrong at this level,
20:09the amount of money that's involved,
20:11the amount of due diligence that has to be done
20:14on these players,
20:16there is so much available to people
20:18that it's too much for one person to take on board.
20:21You almost need that collective approach
20:24rather than just one man making decisions.
20:26Nothing wrong with vetoes,
20:27nothing wrong with somebody having a big say
20:29because ultimately it's got to fit in the team
20:31and the squad that you are producing.
20:33However, collecting all of that information
20:36has to be delegated.
20:38And that's one thing that Eddie Howe needs to do more
20:40is delegate responsibility.
20:42And I think on transfers, you've got somebody in now,
20:44of course, anybody who missed the news,
20:46I'm sure you didn't out there,
20:47within the last week or so,
20:49Paul Mitchell, of course, coming in,
20:51one of the most highly regarded sporting directors
20:54on the planet,
20:56particularly involved with English football.
20:58Look, I'm not going to stand here
20:59and profess to be the expert
21:01on what a sporting director and director of football does.
21:04However, the people talking about
21:07the jobs that Paul Mitchell's done in football,
21:10whether that be at Tottenham, back to MK Dons,
21:13Southampton, Leipzig, Monaco,
21:15he's got an amazing CV.
21:17He's got a CV where you'd say it's a big step up
21:19on Dan Ashworth, the man who went in previously to him.
21:22Trust the man who signed top, top players
21:26for all of these clubs.
21:27Interestingly, he signed Kieran Trippier as well, didn't he?
21:29Yes, for three and a half million pounds,
21:31and that turned out quite well.
21:33Turned out all right here too.
21:34Yes, which was an Eddie Howe signing,
21:36or a Kieran Trippier signing, really.
21:38Well, it was a Kieran Trippier signing.
21:39Kieran Trippier approached Newcastle United,
21:41which I'm sure many of you guys who regularly
21:43watch the Geordie Journals will know.
21:45Yes, so, yeah, I think it's something Eddie Howe...
21:50Eddie Howe will grow.
21:51He's still fairly young in manager terms,
21:53and this is a new experience for him.
21:55Champions League last season, the size of the club.
21:58Remember, he's come from Bournemouth,
22:00is pretty much the extent of his managerial experience,
22:03and what a job he did there.
22:05But it's a little bit different,
22:07and he recognises that, and he'll learn lessons.
22:10He's been here less than three years as well,
22:12so it's enough time to learn,
22:14and I think he has learned in some aspects.
22:17But I think, yeah, the appointment of sporting directors,
22:20Newcastle get more and more coaches in,
22:23more and more scouts in.
22:24So, yeah, Newcastle are starting to get more and more.
22:27They're growing, they're developing.
22:28They've developed quite a lot just since Eddie Howe's come in,
22:31and I think it goes back to your point.
22:33Eddie Howe has grown with the club to an extent,
22:35but he has to keep growing.
22:37Yes, he does.
22:38That's going to be so important for him.
22:40The likes of Isak, Bruno, these quality players,
22:44Anthony Gordon to a degree,
22:46all these elite players, or elite players,
22:49Newcastle want to attract their aspirations as a club.
22:53Eddie Howe needs to be an elite head coach,
22:57not an elite, all-encompassing manager.
23:00His job is to focus on making those changes on the pitch,
23:04managing the injuries to a degree,
23:06listening to his staff,
23:07and then the sort of overarching thing is trust the people around him.
23:12I'm not saying he doesn't, because he absolutely will to an extent,
23:16but with Paul Mitchell coming in, trust him.
23:19He's an expert in that field.
23:22Let him get on with his work.
23:24Are you listening, Eddie?
23:25The Geordie Journals have spoken.
23:27I'll see you in a couple of weeks, Eddie,
23:29so you can tell us how right or wrong I am.
23:31And until next week,
23:32where you'll see the Geordie Journals again at your regular slot,
23:3510.30pm on Shots TV.
23:38Thanks for watching.