Watch new Eddie Howe interview as Newcastle boss speaks openly to NBC Sports
Having recently celebrated four years since being appointed Newcastle United manager, 2025 has been perhaps the most rollercoaster year of Eddie Howe’s tenure so far.
From the jubilant highs of winning the Carabao Cup and then qualifying for the Champions League, to losing star striker Alexander Isak after an intense, drawn-out transfer saga over the summer, and even dealing with a difficult bout of pneumonia back in April, it’s been an eventful year to say the very least.
And the next six months will perhaps be the biggest test of Howe’s tenure so far, and after a difficult start to the season, the manager remains immensely confident that we will enjoy an upturn in form sooner rather than later.
In a fantastic new interview with NBC’s 'The 2 Robbies Podcast', Howe has given fresh insight into how things are currently going within the team, his delight at Nick Woltemade, and what he’s learned from his own previous managers that he’s been passing onto his current players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhv9gyMdvxY
On a tough start to 25/26 campaign
It’s been a mixed bag of results so far this season for Howe and the lads: whilst sitting relatively comfortably in the Champions League and into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup once again, much focus has been aimed at our poor away form and inconsistent performances on the pitch.
Recognising that there’s still plenty of work to be done if we want to replicate last season’s success, Howe feels as though things are about to click within the team any day now, especially having navigated our way through a tough run of games to start the season.
“A tough couple of months for us. I think we had a tough start to the season in terms of fixtures, some big big games. I actually think overall our performances have been pretty strong in those games.”“We just haven’t been at our free-flowing attacking best, and that’s probably the reason why we haven’t picked up as many points. But last few games I think we’ve shown good signs of hopefully returning to our best form.”
On impact of new signings so far
There’s plenty of fresh faces on Tyneside this season, who have enjoyed mixed levels of success so far. Howe however is delighted with the rapid progress of two players in particular, and backs the entire collective of new signings to flourish this season.
“I think our new signings have done pretty well. I’ve been delighted with Nick (Woltemade): very very tough for him, he’s been thrown in the deep end, very little training time with us and straight into match days with no training in between either because we had such an intense period of fixtures. But he’s got to grasp with everything quickly and scored some big goals for us.”“(Malick Thiaw) Seems like he’s been in the team for a lot longer than that. He’s settled in really well. He’s built a good relationship with the players around him, delighted with how he’s started.”
“Yoane (Wissa) will bring a lot. I think he’s got a lot of really good attributes that we’ll look to utilise: he’s got pace, knows where the goal is, very good link player as well.”
“And then when you add Jacob Ramsey, he’s another player just back fit, I think he’s got a big future with us, and Aaron Ramsdale started well too. So I think all the new signings have contributed and will contribute a lot more as we go on.”
On Sandro Tonali and Joelinton’s current roles
From day one, Howe has attracted high praise and acclaim for innovating and improving the squad left behind by Steve Bruce, and turning much of the squad into genuine world-beaters.
Two of the standout stars of Howe’s tenure can be found in the heart of midfield: Joelinton having been transformed from £40m striker flop into brutal midfield enforcer, and Sandro Tonali still living up to his world-class hype and expectations in spite of a ten month ban so soon after signing for us back in 2023.
And a lot of both players’ success is down to Howe has utilised them to great effect in his current set-up, with the gaffer a big advocate for keeping things fluid and ever-changing on the pitch.
“I believe in fluidity. Sandro (Tonali) a lot of the time will start as the deepest player, but he does have an element of freedom to rotate with Bruno, and you see them doing that a lot during games.”“Joelinton was a striker. He’s now playing slightly lower on the pitch, but he will end up playing wide and inside. So we believe in fluid structures, we don’t believe in rigid structures.”
“We’ll ask our players in training to play in different positions, we will work on the fluidity of our system, we will work on players interchanging, because I think that’s the hardest thing to play against.”
On his managerial influences
Prior to becoming our manager, Howe took the time to travel to Spain and study the teachings and philosophy of Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone, and the legendary Argentine’s ‘dark arts’ can definitely be seen in flashes in our grittiest, hardest-fought wins under Howe.
But when asked about his other managerial influences and inspirations, Howe had plenty of names from his past whose teachings he adopted and made his own.
“My early manager, Mel Machin, was a huge influence on me. He was a brilliant manager, and I think he gave a trust in me that meant so much for such a young player to be trusted in that way."I’ve never forgotten that, and I try to give that to my young players that I really believe in: that trust and that you see something in them that they don’t see in themselves.”
“Shaun O’Driscoll was a huge influence. I mean, he was a revolutionary really, he saw things very differently to a lot of traditional managers at the time. Feel myself lucky to have played under him for such a long time, and to absorb his way of speaking to players and how he conducted himself.”
“I didn’t play under Harry (Redknapp), I was injured a lot but I observed a lot of Harry: such a good manager, made players feel so so good before they entered onto the pitch and I think that’s probably the biggest thing I took from him.”
“As I was coming to the end of my playing career, Arsene (Wenger) was probably in his peak years as Arsenal manager and his Arsenal team, the way they played, was different at the time and the invincible team I loved. Every time Arsenal was on the telly for me was a big learning curve.”
On the joy of being Newcastle United manager
The commentator Peter Drury put it perfectly after the final whistle blew in the Carabao Cup final that Eddie Howe “can walk on the river Tyne” due to the manager’s newfound heroic, miracle-working status in the North East.
But as grateful as we are to have such a fantastic manager and overall individual in the dugout, Howe has expressed his own immense gratitude over still being in the position he is in today as Newcastle United manager.
“Overall, I feel it’s amazing, and I never wake up and don’t appreciate the fact I’m managing Newcastle. I don’t take that for granted, I don't, I never have done and I think the day I do is the day that I shouldn’t be here anymore.”“Winning the trophy that we did last year was just the perfect day, the perfect experience. I’d love to experience that again.
"It drives me to try and fulfil that dream again, it’s just an amazing football club full of amazing people with just the best supporters, so I consider myself very lucky.”
