Eddie Howe tells UEFA there is more to come from Newcastle United as he admits club are in transition
Eddie Howe has been speaking to UEFA ahead of Newcastle United's Champions League play-off against Qarabag of Azerbaijan.
The Toon boss spoke to UEFA's official media team, reflecting on four years at Newcastle United, the future for the club and everything in between.
One thing we noted was how Eddie Howe spoke about this season, which, for a lot of fans, has been one that is going to be remembered mostly for being frustrating, unless something big happens between now and May.
Should Newcastle run on to lift the FA Cup, or the Champions League, then all of the rollercoaster moments of the last few months will be forgotten, but should the season end with nothing to show for it, it's going to be remembered as a rollercoaster.
Eddie Howe says there's more to come from his Newcastle side
In his trademark fashion, though, Howe has managed to remain fairly positive throughout all the adversity while admitting that the team has struggled to handle all the changes this season.
"It's a new team, and I felt that at the beginning of this season. We went through a cycle of three and a half years together with the same group of players, and there was a lot of turnover in recent transfer windows, the summer being the big one. In some senses, we've started afresh.
"We've been trying to gel and find the best way of working with those new players. I'd say we've improved and we're going in the right direction, but there's more to come. I’m really excited about the future with the team, but at the moment, we've still got some more gears to go to be at our very best.
"The first year we had in the Champions League two years ago was just an amazing experience all round to be in it, but now we want to do well in it. There's a different feel this year. We've really enjoyed the teams [we've played], they've been tough, but I think they've made us a better team because of it."
Newcastle United fans are rewarded for their patience
Patience isn't a word that really flies with football fans, but Eddie Howe has proved many times over his four years at Newcastle that if you stick with him, things will turn around.
Likewise, it has often been the case with the players he has signed. The additions made in the summer have, for the most part, taken a long time to get up to speed, but we're starting to see a marked improvement now.
There will be changes again in the summer, and that could have a similar effect next season, but we expect the players brought in for this campaign will hit the ground running and pull the team up next season.
