Jamie Carragher says he was impressed with 'interesting' way Eddie Howe approached huge game this season

It has been at least a couple of hours since we last mentioned it, so just in case it had slipped your mind, Newcastle United ended their 70-year wait for domestic silverware this season by lifting the Carabao Cup at Wembley back in March.

Yep, still not bored of saying, typing, hearing or reading that fact.

While those not associated with Newcastle can almost appreciate what it means to win a trophy after so long without, only those with ties to the club truly understand what that day meant and how important it was to Newcastle to end their Wembley curse and break that trophyless streak.

In fact, it was so important to Newcastle that Eddie Howe was working on the game plan for the final as soon as they booked their place in it.

It was that dedication that blew Jamie Carragher's mind as the Sky Sports pundit was impressed by Eddie Howe's coaching leading up to the final, as he and Gary Neville picked their "Coaching performance in an individual game" winner in their end-of-season awards.

“I was thinking about Eddie Howe and that cup final. Something he said after the game was brilliant. He said they had been preparing for that game as soon as they got to the final.

“They played Liverpool a few weeks before, and they almost did the opposite of everything they were going to do in the game. Isak never played. There was probably nothing wrong with him, just leave him out.

“I thought ‘wow’. A manager thinking he’s still got important league games, but from Monday to Friday we will work on the Liverpool game.

“The set piece they scored in the game from Dan Burn, they had been working on for weeks. I thought it was really interesting the way Eddie Howe went about it.”

Jamie Carragher didn't pick Eddie Howe despite the high praise

Despite being so impressed, Carragher didn't end up picking Eddie Howe for his coaching performance of the season; in a strange twist of irony, Carragher picked Andoni Iraola for Bournemouth against Newcastle, while Gary Neville did pick Eddie Howe in the League Cup final.

Carragher felt that Iraola guiding Bournemouth to a win at St James' Park, ending Newcastle's winning streak while the Cherries had so many players missing, deserved the nod.

Obviously, from our point of view, he's wrong, but from a neutral perspective, that was impressive by Iraola. Still, he didn't lift a trophy for beating us, did he?