Eddie Howe says he turned down a lot of jobs before taking up the role of Newcastle United but was tempted by the vacant role at Celtic. The Magpies head coach revealed a problem with appointing his backroom staff meant he would turn down a move to the Scottish giants, just months before taking over at St. James' Park.
After 15 months out of the game, following his departure from Bournemouth, Howe was looking for the right project to take on. The 44-year-old admits he had no idea what that looked like, but jumped at the chance to manage Newcastle United
Speaking to Alan Shearer in an interview with The Athletic, Howe said: "I needed to really believe in the project I was going to take on. And having left a club that was very, very special to me, it suddenly hit me — ‘I don’t actually know what I’m looking for in my next challenge’.
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"I turned down a lot of jobs because of that reason. Unless Newcastle had come along, which was immediately the one, I don’t know where that would have happened.
“Celtic was the one job I’d been offered that really appealed. The issue there was my staff. I felt that if I was to come into a pressured job like that, I needed to go in with a sense of stability.
"I could have recruited new staff, but then you’re working each other out and there’s a transition process where it probably takes three, four, five months. That’s five months too late. I needed my staff with me and we couldn’t get them together.”
Howe also gives an insight into how football has changed him as a manager whilst still being there for his players. “I’m probably not as nice as I was,” he said. “And I’m being serious when I answer that. Because football does change you.
"I have certainly seen my personality change very gradually over time. That’s not to say I’m not nice when I need to be — I’d like to think I’m still there for my players in every way personally — but you get so consumed with football, you live the results, training, being the leader of the club in terms of on the pitch and everything that happens on it.
“You can’t overthink things. You have a decision to make and you know you’re affecting people’s futures and their lives but, no, it’s the right thing to do.
"The emotional side has to be second to your critical eye and the decision. How you deliver that news, that’s where it comes to your personality.
"I’m a firm believer in delivering things in the right way, but if there’s a decision to be made, you have to make it. You can’t be too nice.”
When he left Bournemouth, Howe was on the lookout for his next project, despite admitting he had no idea where or what that looked like. Almost a year on from his appointment, the Magpies head coach has fallen in love with Tyneside and it's people but admits to keeping his emotions in check.
He said: “I’ve fallen in love not just with the place but with the people as well. Immediately at the training ground, the first people you meet going in, you think, ‘I wonder how this is going to go…’, but I’ve loved them from minute one.
"I don’t know how they feel about me, but I certainly love them! And then the supporters, obviously, that connection we’ve grown to have a good feeling off each other. I love the fact it’s all about Newcastle. I love that intensity.”
“I control it, I think,” Howe said when asked if he was emotional. “I am a very emotional person and I’m more emotional as I’ve got older, probably like we all do. If I put a film on… I’ll cry straight away over something like that.
"I think it’s maybe when you have kids, you see life differently. But when it comes to football I’m able to control my emotions very well on matchdays because I’m always thinking about what my players need.”
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