Eddie Howe insisted that he will do ‘everything in his power’ to keep the ‘unity’ at Newcastle after their comeback victory at Wolves took his side to third in the Premier League.
Despite growing public tensions with Newcastle’s sporting director Paul Mitchell – who was at Molineux alongside CEO Darren Eales – over transfer strategy, Howe stressed that winning football matches is the best way to quieten the noise.
‘Winning is everything. I’ve never shied away from that especially when you’re manager of Newcastle,’ said Howe.
‘The best way to do that is to be unified – to be unified between the supporters, the players and the coaching staff is key and I’ll do everything in my power to keep that unity,’ the Newcastle boss added.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe says he’ll do everything in his power to keep unity at the club
With 10 points after four games, the Magpies have made their best start to a Premier League campaign since the 1995-96 season, when they won each of their opening four matches under Kevin Keegan and Howe admitted that such a start will do wonders for his side’s confidence.
‘What shines through is the ability to find a way to win,’ he said. ‘It’s a great platform for us. Confidence is a key ingredient in any sporting team and hopefully winning in the manner that we are, that confidence level will continue to grow.
‘There’s no doubting the quality of players that we have – albeit small in numbers so we can’t afford to lose any,’ said Howe.
Howe’s half-time triple substitution inspired a second-half comeback with Harvey Barnes, one of the three changes, scoring a stunning winner five minutes after Fabian Schar’s equaliser cancelled out Mario Lemina’s opener.
Wolves have failed to win any of their opening four league games this season, with just one point making it their joint-worst start to a Premier League campaign along with 2003-04 when they were relegated.
Newcastle’s comeback victory at Wolves offers the perfect tonic to tensions at the club
It’s believed there are tensions between Howe and club CEO Darren Eales over transfer policy
Though manager Gary O’Neil insisted that he refused to read too much into that, given the games Wolves have had including Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle and that he took pride from his team’s display.
‘I’m frustrated. There was a lot of good in that performance but two moments have ultimately cost us,’ he said.
‘We’ve had an unbelievably tough run of fixtures to start. If we play like that every week then we will be absolutely fine. The Premier League is tough – you can play as well as you want but it doesn’t guarantee you anything,’ added O’Neil.