One thing you can't accuse Eddie Howe of is being overly emotional. You may get a fist pump on the touchline when Newcastle United score, but then it's immediately back to game face.
It's a similar story in interviews, too. You may get a wry smile, or even a mild chuckle if someone cracks a joke, but it's a fleeting moment of emotion before he reverts back to Mr Business.
We're sure there's a lot more to Eddie's personality behind the scenes, but he certainly knows how to put on a front and how to lean into it.
He never gives much away in interviews and there's always thought behind what he says and how he says it which has led to a lot of wild interpretations for sure, but we're confident he knows exactly what he's doing.
It's of little surprise, then, that when asked about how Newcastle can continue their run of form, Eddie Howe gave a very dry answer, but at least he prefaced it with an acknowledgement of that fact.
Speaking to the media (h/t The Chronicle) ahead of the visit of Wolves on Wednesday night, Howe said his side are taking it game by game.
"I think for me, I know it's boring but, it is game by game, and it is trying to keep our focus on what we can affect, which is our next training session, our next game, and making sure that we're not getting ahead of ourselves in both ways. So, when we were having a disappointing run, it was about making sure that we didn't throw everything out and become despondent.
"It's exactly the same when you're winning. It's making sure that you're consistent with what you do and the messages are clear. We focus and don't take this position for granted. I think the Premier League is an unforgiving league."
Indeed, Howe was equally unenthusiastic when asked about Alexander Isak looking to become the first Newcastle player to score in eight consecutive games.
"Yeah, he'll be desperate to play, of course.
"Those runs I'm not really too focused on and I'm not too interested in but I understand the individuals will care deeply about them. I'd love Alex to continue to score.
"I think the most important thing for me is that the team is functioning well for him and he's functioning well for the team. The two things go hand in hand together.
"We have looked like scoring goals recently, that's such a big thing for our confidence levels. He's played a big part in that hopefully, that continues."
Never change, Eddie, you boring man. Whatever you're doing is working and that's all we care about.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
![]() |
25 | 36 | 60 |
2 |
![]() |
25 | 29 | 53 |
3 |
![]() |
25 | 12 | 47 |
4 |
![]() |
25 | 17 | 44 |
5 |
![]() |
25 | 15 | 43 |
6 |
![]() |
25 | 13 | 43 |
7 |
![]() |
25 | 9 | 41 |
8 |
![]() |
25 | 5 | 39 |
9 |
![]() |
25 | -3 | 38 |
10 |
![]() |
25 | 0 | 37 |
11 |
![]() |
25 | 1 | 34 |
12 |
![]() |
25 | 12 | 30 |
13 |
![]() |
25 | -3 | 30 |
14 |
![]() |
25 | -4 | 30 |
15 |
![]() |
25 | -7 | 29 |
16 |
![]() |
25 | -18 | 27 |
17 |
![]() |
25 | -19 | 19 |
18 |
![]() |
25 | -27 | 17 |
19 |
![]() |
25 | -30 | 17 |
20 |
![]() |
25 | -38 | 9 |