Howe pleased after Newcastle hold on for 2-1 Tottenham win
01/09/2024
St James' Park, Newcastle, UK
01/09/2024
St James' Park, Newcastle, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00All right, mate?
00:11All right, George?
00:12Just two seconds.
00:22Start with Danny.
00:25Danny was a classic ground out win.
00:29Yeah, it was a tough game. It was a really tough game.
00:33Second half in particular, I thought the first half was pretty even,
00:38but we came under pressure. I thought we defended our goal really well.
00:42A great response, really, to going one-all from the players, from the guys that came on the pitch,
00:49and to find a way to win. It's so difficult to win in this league,
00:53especially if you're not at your absolute best, that we're finding a way to do it.
00:56So that's great signs, but we know that longer term we're going to need to improve our performance.
01:01And how important was it to get a positive result after the last few weeks?
01:09Well, it's massive, isn't it? You need to win at any stage, but I think when
01:16there's difficult moments, and this transfer window has been tough for us,
01:20I think it's even more important because it just enables you to see things clearly and to
01:25move forward with positive momentum. Hopefully we can do that.
01:29Today was a tough game, but as I say, we found a way to grind out a win,
01:32and hopefully that's good signs for the rest of the season.
01:34Is the first international break going to give you a chance to take a break?
01:51Well, I think it does because we know most transfer windows are shut,
01:55so I think it gives us some stability and a lot of the off-field talk can hopefully disappear,
02:03and we can focus on the pitch and the players that matter,
02:07and we can try and get ourselves in a really good place. I think what this does do hopefully will
02:12give us confidence and give us the ability to see ourselves as a very good team,
02:17one that can get better and improve as the season goes on. I still think we're short fitness-wise,
02:22I think that's clear to see. We've got a lot of work to do in the international break with
02:25the players that stay. You've not been able to show to your players that the first team
02:32has necessarily got better at the window, but you can now show them that with everyone together,
02:37you can still win games, so that's really important.
02:41Yeah, it is, because you need the players to believe in themselves and you need the
02:44players to believe in the changing room and the ability that we have. I think they do,
02:49but we've still got a number of players that can make a big difference out injured,
02:52and that is always a challenge. You can see today that was every player that was fit and
02:56available, was on the bench, was involved. We've got no-one else, senior professionals,
03:01so it's a really small squad, but in some senses that small squad fosters
03:05team spirit and togetherness, and that's what we try to do.
03:09Sorry to bring it back to transfers, Eddie, you just mentioned most windows are closed,
03:15obviously some are still open, is there still a chance for some players to leave?
03:22Yeah, maybe the players that have been linked to move, like Jamal Lewis, could possibly leave,
03:29but certainly we hope no-one else does.
03:32Four games into the season, four games undefeated on the team,
03:35will maybe shortcomings fit as well as playing how you'd like to at this stage?
03:41No, I don't think we're playing as we would like, I think that's obvious. I don't think
03:45we're playing with enough control, I don't think we're playing with enough composure, but
03:51what we are showing is the defensive and aggressive qualities that you need.
03:57I have to say we're defending very well, when you look at how much ball Tottenham had around
04:01our box today, I thought the back four in particular and Nick were magnificent in
04:04repelling their threat, made some really good defensive actions, but on the ball I think we've
04:09got a lot of work to do. Our attacking play has not kicked into rhythm yet, but in saying that
04:14today I still thought we could score at any stage of the game and before they scored I thought we
04:18missed a great chance to go 2-0, very similar to the goal we did score when Jacob makes that
04:23brilliant pass to Alex. I thought we looked an attacking threat while not having a lot of the ball.
04:34What's the issue with Anthony today? Is it a lack of fitness at the moment?
04:42I think Anthony's had an unusual summer by his standards, a long stretch at the Euros
04:50where he didn't play, so naturally I think that's a long period without game
04:53sharpness and everything that you need to get. Then he comes in for us, he has a
04:57two-week pre-season, pre-seasons are usually five to six weeks, so I think it's clear that
05:02Anthony's slightly off on his normal fitness levels, especially where he was last year where
05:08he worked tirelessly to get into the best physical shape he could be. At the moment we're trying to
05:13get him fit in the games, we're trying to leave him on the pitch as long as we can, knowing that
05:19we can't really train him because we had a busy spell, so he's getting his fitness from
05:24the matches, which is never ideal, but he will be fine, touch wood as long as he stays
05:28injury-free, we'll get him up to speed quickly.
05:30You missed a lot of players last season, we all know that, but perhaps none of them more than Nick Pope?
05:37Yeah, I think you could see that today, I mean his ability to keep the ball out of the net is
05:41unrivalled in my opinion, he is an incredible shot stopper, he fills the goal. A couple of
05:47saves he made today I thought were incredible, typical Nick-like, and I just think he gives
05:54everyone around him confidence, so you can't underestimate the power of your goalkeeper,
05:58we certainly don't, and that's no, like Martin did a really good job for us last year,
06:03but Nick has unique skills as Martin does and it was a great performance from him today.
06:07Greg, Eddie, there was a Saudi contingent there, did you have a chance to speak with them?
06:15Thankfully no, as in I don't have to answer your question,
06:19but I hope to catch up with them after this.
06:22When we last spoke to you I'm afraid in the morning there was still 12 hours in the window,
06:26you answered our questions then, but now we've had 36 hours to reflect
06:30on what happened and what didn't happen, where are you at in terms of that,
06:34can you give us your sort of summary of the window?
06:38Challenging, in one word.
06:41Words if you want.
06:42No, no, one word's good.
06:46Yeah, challenging because we knew going into the window is going to be challenging and it proves
06:51no different and that, I do say, repeat myself because it's the only thing I can do is tell you
07:01my feelings, is that that'll be the same for everyone connected with the club, there's no one
07:06in a different position who's connected with the club that's wanting to do as good a job as we all
07:11can and try and improve the squad, it was challenging, but by not spending any money,
07:18I say any money, we did spend a bit of money, but by not spending the sums that maybe was expected,
07:23hopefully that helps us in future windows, I don't know as I sit here today, but hopefully
07:28that gives us a bit more freedom in the future to be a bit more proactive.
07:35Sorry, you can see the transfer questions now, we're going away, so I apologise,
07:38Kieran, Truby, they're out being talked today, I'm supposed to be in press,
07:43that window's still got two weeks, is there anything changed in his situation with you,
07:49or are you still very much firm that you want Kieran Truby here until January at the very least?
07:54Yeah, absolutely I want Kieran here, that hasn't changed and that won't change,
07:59now I woke up to the stories via a few messages, as you do, so it's the first I've heard of it.
08:07And when we talk about players coming into the team and we saw it last season where players had
08:15to do that, I mean Emil, the role that he's played in Fabian's absence I guess shows that while you
08:22have got a small squad, the importance of those type of players to be able to do that is going
08:30to be massive, isn't it? Yeah, I mean I think what it does do, when I said earlier that everyone who
08:35was fit today is involved, it highlights how important every single player is and we have to
08:39get, as I said yesterday, we have to get the best out of every single individual and you look at
08:42Emil as a player, he's never really played centre-half in a back four before, I don't believe,
08:49he might say different but I don't believe he has, I've not seen him do it, he's certainly played in
08:53a back three before but a back four to a back three is totally different, he has done brilliantly
08:57in Fabian's absence I have to say, I think he's very, very dependable, first and foremost he's
09:03a great character, he wants to play for Newcastle, he's absolutely motivated to improve, full credit
09:09to him. Any, we're not used to seeing Newcastle teams kind of, there's two games now, probably
09:18where you've probably not had much possession, probably not, you've stepped up a little bit more
09:22than we've ever seen before, that's not like a deliberate thing is it, it's more to do with
09:27season nine, the first game, but also maybe just not being quite fit, is that fair to say?
09:31Yeah, that is fair to say, I mean, so you've not seen Newcastle teams before that, I have,
09:42my teams, yeah, but there have been games where we've had to do that, we've had to do that,
09:48the plan today was a mixture, a mixture in our game, as I said before, I think after the Wolves
09:53game here last year, we change our tactical plan, whether people see it or not,
09:59regularly, but we don't just have one way of playing and that's it, we're constantly changing,
10:03you have to because the opposition you're playing against are different as well every game, so
10:10the plan was to be not without the ball as long as we were today, but we knew there would be spells
10:15where we wouldn't have it, but in some respects that doesn't damage us, we're a very good
10:19counter-attacking team, so we're quite prepared to be in that moment, but longer term, we know we
10:24need more of the ball and we will endeavour to have more of the ball, certainly that isn't
10:29something that we plan to go into any game, planning to be without the ball for long periods,
10:34but sometimes that happens, you have to suffer that while trying to find a way to win.
10:39Just finally, Harvey Barnes, obviously we've seen that a lot too in last season,
10:43it was a brilliant goal, a typical Harvey finish really, I think he has the ability to
10:53not just finish really well, but just take up great positions to score goals,
10:56you look at his record it is incredible for a wide player at this level,
11:00so really pleased for him, he's fighting for a place in the team that will only inspire us,
11:06you see Jacob Murphy's contribution when he came on with a brilliant assist, so that's good to see.
11:13Eddie, it sounds like you're looking forward to being in charge of your own destiny in some ways
11:18now, because the window is shut, you get on the training field and results are probably the only
11:23way to respond to things? Yes, that's the only way I know, the transfer side of football now is
11:33so big that you can't as a manager control all of that, you're very much concentrating on your own
11:40job, which is coaching, training, style, which we're working towards, but you know how important
11:47the transfer window is to everything that you do, and your future success depends on how successful
11:52you are in the window, so as I said earlier, hopefully it gives us a bit more freedom in
11:57future windows. The togetherness, I think it always drives me forward, I think when I
12:13come to work every day and you're interacting with the staff and the players that we have here,
12:18it's an absolute privilege and a pleasure to be with them all, I think we have a great team spirit,
12:24it's something that we have to protect at all costs, and in part that does go back to the
12:29transfer window, we have to bring the right characters to the group, the characters we've
12:32brought in so far have helped us get where we are. Aaron, to finish off, hi Eddie,
12:39Sandra Starr, there was a lot of support for him today, what did you make of that?
12:43Yeah, I didn't know what was going to happen, so the war flags display was a brilliant surprise
12:50when I walked out, visually it was incredible, I'm sure Sandro, well I could see Sandro because
12:56he was near me, was emotionally moved, brilliant, but his performance when he came on was
13:00outstanding, he helped us in a moment of need, just amazing from the supporters and again it
13:08doesn't surprise me but it is so important that the relationship between players and supporters
13:12is strong, and that's something again that we have to take ownership of from our side and make sure
13:17we're giving our all every time we wear the shirt.
13:27Like a number of our players I think he's got some work to do,
13:32but he'll be pleased I think with two contributions, the contribution he made on Wednesday
13:37which was really good, and today again, Premier League game, very different to the Nottingham
13:42Forest game, when he came onto the pitch we were in need of a spark and I felt with the other
13:48substitutes and I thought he gave us that.