Eddie Howe Saudi Arabia Jeddah Riyadh soccer Sport Eddie Howe Saudi Arabia Jeddah Riyadh

Howe defends Newcastle decision to return to Saudi Arabia for training camp

rte.ie

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has defended the club's decision to return to Saudi Arabia for a warm-weather training camp.The Magpies, who are 80% owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, confirmed on Friday morning that they would head for capital Riyadh between 4-10 December after making a similar trip to Jeddah in January.Asked about the criticism that trip might spark, Howe said: "We've made a football decision.

We've looked at the World Cup break, what's the best thing for the team."The best thing for the team, I believe, is to take the team away like you would in pre-season, away from distractions, a chance to really train the group, enhance the team spirit with hopefully some good weather, so that's what we've done."We've made it from a purely footballing backdrop."Howe's side will play a friendly against Pro League champions Al-Hilal on December 8 during a trip he hopes will yield similar results to their last visit, after which they won five of their next six matches as they embarked upon a nine-game unbeaten run.He said: "When you look back to last year, our decision to go there and the benefit it had for the team and the results on our return were really good, so we got a few positive connotations from that."Going back to our trip last year, the weather was very good, the facilities were first class, we were able to spend some quality time together to bond the group and really focus our energies on our battle to stay in the division."The team spirit off the back of that trip was very, very good.

Related News
NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe refuses to be drawn on whether Newcastle United plans to dip into the transfer market come January.
NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe believes Newcastle United’s Dan Burn can step in to fill a Ben Chilwell-sized hole in the England World Cup squad for Qatar 2022.
NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe believes it is “outrageous” to talk about Newcastle United as Champions League contenders, that despite another rampant win on Tyneside. The swaggering Magpies eased to a 4-0 win over Aston Villa at St. James’ Park, a victory that kept Howe’s side in the Premier League top four.
NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe has revealed that Newcastle United are likely to see key players return from injury, which will boost the team’s chances for this weekend’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa.
LONDON: Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe has played down talk of the Magpies making the Premier League top four and securing Champions League football next season. United were victorious in North London on Sunday, seeing off Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 thanks to goals from Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron. Harry Kane got a consolation for Spurs.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.