Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has admitted that he knew Amanda Staveley offered Unai Emery the job before him at St James’ Park.
When quizzed on the build-up to Howe being unveiled in November 2021, the current head coach – who has one Champions League qualification on the board at Newcastle – insisted that Emery’s snub did not sway his mind whatsoever when signing on the dotted line for the Magpies as boss.
Emery, who was then boss of La Liga side Villarreal CF but has gone on to manage Aston Villa, did not take on the challenge of leading Newcastle off the bottom of the table. Howe managed to turn things around at St James’ Park and guided the team from the bottom of the table to 11th, then Europe the next year.
Featuring on William Hill’s Up Front with Simon Jordan, Howe said: “It doesn’t bother me that Unai Emery turned the Newcastle job down, not in the slightest.
“I was given a phone call that highlighted it was a two-horse race for the job between Unai and myself. Unai’s CV is unbelievable, at that point I knew I’d lost! I got the call to say they were going to go into another direction, and I completely understood their decision. He’s a top-quality manager.
“There was no ill feeling from my end towards Unai or Newcastle. When I got the call the next day and they offered me the job after Unai turned it down, I was absolutely delighted. I realised what a big opportunity this was for me. I had no reservations towards the club about them leaning towards Unai initially, that’s football.”
Howe stated that there is no job quite like the Newcastle managerial role and has no regrets. He said: “Of course, as a human being you have those anxieties and fears stepping into a new role. You have to prove yourself all over again, you need to set your intentions early and try to inspire a new group of people to bring the club together.
“There was no doubt in my mind in taking the opportunity, I realised there would not be another opportunity for me like this and I couldn’t wait to get involved.”
Howe said that his early conversations with Staveley were all about the short-term, and never how much money he would have to spend in the transfer market. He said: “The early discussions with Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and the PIF were all about the short-term, it was November, and we had the January transfer window coming up.
“It was a case of looking at the current squad, assessing areas that needed improving and who can improve those areas, to get out of the bottom three. That was it.
“Of course, we knew if we could execute that plan correctly then we could look towards the future more, but the short-term plan was of paramount importance at the time.”
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