Newcastle United could qualify for Europe for only the third time since 2006, but Eddie Howe is humble about the club’s prospects for the balance of the current season.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has dismissed any idea of “celebrating” qualifying for Europe this season, insisting that even securing a Europa Conference League spot will be a “big achievement”.
Just a year ago, Newcastle fans celebrated their return to the Champions League after finishing in the top four of the Premier League table. Back in 2004, a drop from the Champions League to the old UEFA Cup, as well as a drop from third to fifth in the table, was met with opposition from certain spectators who did not stay behind for Sir Bobby Robson’s side’s final lap of gratitude, a point raised by the ex-England manager in his autobiography.
When asked if he would celebrate reaching Europe, Howe told Chronicle Live: “I don’t feel we had a big celebration last year, it was just game after game, then the season ended. It is a difficult question for me to answer because we are not thinking about celebrations at the moment. We are thinking about points and games, wherever that takes us we will assess at the end of the season.”
Newcastle’s return to the top six after sliding to tenth place is significant in itself. And the head coach is confident that qualifying for Euorpe would be a significant feat in only his second complete season.
The head coach said: “I think European football is a big achievement for where we are on our journey at the moment. Especially with the season we have had this year. When you take everything together and you review the season that would be an achievement. From where we were, a big achievement yes.”
Howe said: “It goes in waves, you feel different in different parts of the season. December for us was a tough moment. We had some difficult games in there and we never rediscovered our spark. It took us a while to refind it, once you do you’ve got to cherish that because that is the thing that makes the difference, we have that at the moment.
“Physically we are better. We have found our energy and our best form in terms of our physical output. Our numbers are back to where they were in the early season. There’s loads of different components go into making a good performance.”
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