Eddie Howe end of season message “We represent Newcastle and we’re proud to do that” | OneFootball

Eddie Howe makes a return trip back to Burnley on Sunday.

Not for the first time since his October 2012 departure but arguably the biggest visit since then, as the Turf Moor club have to stay ahead of Leeds if they are to survive.

A win would guarantee Burnley survival as they have a far better goal difference than Leeds (and on same number of points). However, anything less than victory and the Lancashire club will be relying on the Yorkshire one, to help keep them up.

Eddie Howe saved Bournemouth from non-league football in his first spell as manager there, then got promotion to League One, before having that spell at Burnley.

Returning to Bournemouth in late 2012, Eddie Howe then got the south coast club up to the Championship, before collecting the full set with taking the Cherries in the Premier League.

Fantastic achievements but arguably his greatest ever when creating history with Newcastle United, inheriting a total mid-season shambles and then becoming the first ever in the Premier League era to guide a club to safety, despite winning none of the first 14 league matches of the season.

No sentimentality for Eddie Howe who says he has plenty of ‘respect’ for his old club Burnley BUT now ‘We represent Newcastle and we’re proud to do that.’

If reaching safety was the icing on the cake this season for NUFC, the cherry on the top would be if Eddie Howe can get Newcastle into a top half spot in the final table.

The Newcastle United head coach says he and his players will give their ‘all’ to try and make that a reality and if they can beat Burnley, NUFC would then also need West Ham to win at Brighton and Leeds to avoid defeat at Brentford, to secure tenth place in the table.

Newcastle United can still finish anywhere from tenth to fourteenth and with £2.2m per place in terms of prize money, it means £8.8m at stake in total for NUFC.

As well as the cash, ending the season on a high can’t do anybody any harm in terms of momentum and morale. This time, there are only 11 weeks between one season ending and the next starting, so here’s hoping Eddie Howe and his team can round things off in style and leave us all wondering whether finishing top half will be the limit of Newcastle United’s ambitions when we get to that weekend (Saturday 6 August) when the 2022/23 Premier League campaign will get up and running.

Eddie Howe looks ahead to playing Burnley on Sunday:

“We will pick our strongest team and try to win the game.

“There’s no let up from our perspective, we’re determined to end the season on a high.

“I respect Burnley and I know the position they’re in but we have a job to do.

“We represent Newcastle and we’re proud to do that.

“An opportunity to finish in the top ten shouldn’t be underestimated so we’ll give our all to try and achieve that.”

Eddie Howe on next season:

“I want my squad to be confident and ambitious.

“They have to believe in big things but we have to set targets internally because we also have to manage expectation.

“We don’t want them to play under unnecessary pressure which hampers our performance.”

Eddie Howe on beating Arsenal:

“I think in terms of performance that’s the highest standard we’ve reached.

“That will be the marker we judge ourselves against now, knowing we’re capable of delivering that.

“We have to get close to those levels, if not surpass them, on a consistent basis.”

“There was a whole range of emotions.

“I was very proud of the performance and what the players had delivered, then very proud of the club of how it’s united together in our fight to stay in the division.

“I really enjoyed seeing everyone happy.”