by Eddie Howe was not very well. But it didn’t happen with a man’s flu, with a few sniffles, a sore throat, aches and pains. No, the Newcastle United manager has been wiped out with the sort of winter bug that would send most of us to our beds in search of rest and recovery.
But Howe did not stop, even without the sleep he needed, and did not miss a single training session. Most of his players didn’t even know he was sick. The only symptoms are a hacking cough that has limited his ability to shout instructions from the sidelines.
When Newcastle lost to Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, when they were beaten by AC Milan from Europe in their final Champions League group game, in the words of one of his coaching staff, Howe was “struggling badly”.
They say the best leaders lead by example and in a season where Howe had so many excuses, he barely mentioned any of them. Howe refused to apologize for himself and that’s an attitude that ran through the squad too.
Instead of taking a few days to rest when he was sick last week, Howe continued to work just as hard. After all, how could he expect his players to continue to push themselves physically and mentally if he took the day off while he himself was sleeping.
From Howe comes Newcastle’s strength of character, the work ethic, the camaraderie, the relentless drive to work. It is the culture he has created that is driving Newcastle forward when many teams would have faded away long ago.
Newcastle’s season has been unraveling at various points since August, such as the three consecutive wins against Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton before the first international break.
Then it was suddenly discovered that summer singing star Sandro Tonali had a gambling addiction and would be banned for 10 months for breaking betting rules during his time in Italy. Then the painful exit from Europe.
But each and every time, Newcastle have come together, rolled up their sleeves and kept things on track. The 3-0 win over Fulham was the perfect tonic to the results and ensured the team remain in the hunt for European qualification again as the season approaches the Christmas period and the opening of the January transfer window.
The victory over 10-man Fulham, taken alone, was not a great result, but its importance should not be underplayed. He has eased everything, helped strengthen Newcastle’s position in the top eight and sets things up perfectly for Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash with Chelsea.
A difficult season – Newcastle still have 11 players injured and Tonali suspended – has been compounded by some ridiculously tough cup draws. Newcastle were in the toughest group in the Champions League, but were only knocked out when they tried to win their final group game to stay in that competition rather than holding on for a draw that would have put them into the Europa League.
In the Carabao Cup, Newcastle have reached the last eight by beating Manchester City at home and Manchester United away. The trip to Stamford Bridge felt like a dubious reward for those two great victories.
But Howe hasn’t given up on adversity and neither have his players. Whatever they lacked, it wasn’t effort, application or determination. They have continued to run themselves into the ground and the fans, even in defeat, have celebrated their grit, craft and spirit.
It will be the same at Stamford Bridge. Newcastle will once again send out a patch-up side, with centre-back Fabian Schar and midfielder Joelinton both going out injured against Fulham, but they will be going there looking for a win that is not a story of hard luck.
“It goes without saying that we want to go through,” Howe said. “You’ve seen how seriously we’ve taken it so far.
“We had such a tough schedule of games in that competition, very much like the Champions League for us, and now we go to Chelsea so it doesn’t get any easier. We will go with the strongest squad and team we can.
“I think that’s pretty clear because there’s nobody fit and available that we’re not with today (against Fulham). But we will try to move forward.”
If Newcastle progress to the semi-finals of the League Cup for the second time in as many years, it will be a prize of excellence if they leave Europe. But even if they lose, any talk that Howe’s job is under threat will be nothing more than external noise.
The Newcastle United board, led by Saudi chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, know exactly what they have got in Howe and will continue to support him because of it. He is under no threat, from fans or from the people who employ him.
