George Caulkin has revealed some insight into the process of Eddie Howe signing his new Newcastle United contract.
It was slightly out of the blue a few weeks ago in the midst of the transfer window when Newcastle decided to hand Eddie Howe a long-term deal despite only appointing the manager back in November.
Howe did an amazing job in turning around the fortunes of Newcastle in such a short space of time while managing to integrate so many new players into the squad halfway through the season, so some may argue that tying him down to such a contract was smart business from the Magpies.
Speaking on Pod on the Tyne, Caulkin has revealed what triggered contract talks between Newcastle and Howe.
Caulkin said: “He talks in this interview [with The Athletic] about his contract and the new contract that he signed at the start of the season, and I thought that was interesting and also kind of quite important in terms of this conversation because he says when he arrived, basically the only thing that he was thinking about was keeping Newcastle up.
“The future can wait, as he said then, and that he’d had a conversation with the owners which was along the lines of, ‘do that, and then we’ll talk about the future’.
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“So as soon as Newcastle were safe, they started the conversation about a contract, he’s signed that extended deal now.”
TIF Thoughts on Howe’s new contract…
Caulkin was referring to the long interview he and Alan Shearer conducted with Howe for The Athletic, in which he spoke about survival being his only goal when he arrived, and the fact he achieved it so admirably was, in turn, rewarded with a new contract.
With fellow English manager Graham Potter being poached by Chelsea from Brighton & Hove Albion just last week, some may have been worried about Howe’s future, but given he’s now got a long-term contract with the Magpies, it would appear that his future looks rather secure.
Also, the fact that he seemingly has a lot of money at his disposal – more than he could’ve ever imagined during his Bournemouth days – there would appear no reason to leave the club while things are all so positive.