Newcastle boss, Eddie Howe, has admitted that qualifying for the Champions League is a “big relief” and he also thanked Newcastle fans for “galvanising the squad”.
Newcastle drew 0-0 with relegation-threatened Leicester on Monday night to clinch their place in the Champions League competition for the next season.
With Howe’s leadership, the Magpies have had a remarkable turnaround over the past 12 months, going from the verge of relegation to Europe’s elite cup competition.
WE ARE NEWCASTLE UNITED.
WE ARE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE! 🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/NaMKa6CJGJ
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) May 22, 2023
What Eddie Howe Said
The Englishman admitted his delight at keeping Newcastle in the top four of the Premier League but said that the squad has exceeded expectations after initially merely aiming to avoid a relegation battle this season.
Howe told Sky Sports “It’s a big relief, an amazing night to see the supporters and the reaction to what we’ve achieved.”
“The target wasn’t top four, you always hope, we didn’t feel we were ready for that. It was, could we not have that flirtation with relegation.
“Their [the team] attitude, mentality has been incredible.”
However, Howe did warn supporters not to get carried away with their expectations for the summer transfer window, despite now being a Champions League competing outfit.
The Newcastle boss stressed his belief that the upcoming recruitment window will be the club’s ‘toughest’ yet given the selection of players they have to choose from.
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Howe added: ‘There’s a very small pool of players for us to recruit. This is probably going to be our toughest transfer window.
‘I don’t think there was anything wrong with our performances, maybe our attention was slightly turned away from the league. The performances after the final were brilliant.
‘That’s the challenge, it’s not easy. Physically it’s a big demand but they’ve coped very well, they’ve seen the fruits of their labour, that’s helped us keep them focused.’
‘We don’t want to go too far away from what we’ve done but there are more games so that’s a bigger challenge,’ he said.
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