Keeping calm and carrying on: Eddie Howe steers clear of all the Premier League drama

NEWCASTLE: Eddie Howe said he does not get caught up in the highs and lows of managing a club like Newcastle United, nor does he pay much attention to the “soap opera” script that can often surround his job.

There have been no shortage of controversies, flashpoints or peaks and troughs at St James’ Park but, in many ways, Howe is the antithesis of all that.

By his own admission a football geek, he is calm and collected in defeat while remaining reserved and respectful in victory. This is a far cry from the drama you might see in some other Premier League dugouts. Nor is it entirely representative of the volatile mood of United fans, which ebbs and flows with every point won or lost.

Howe knows, however, that part his job is to remain level-headed no matter what is going on around him, on or off the pitch.

“I embrace the wins and I love that feeling and I want to see other people happy and our supporters enjoying success; that is my motivation to do the job,” he said.

“I don’t think it is healthy to get caught up in it and be a person of extreme emotion. I don’t think that helps my players at all. Staying calm, using my brain to think logically and intelligently, is what I do.”

Managing the Magpies is often seen as an emotional roller coaster. Newcastle United legend Kevin Keegan, for example, who had two spells on Tyneside as manager and one as a player, once described the experience as “riding the black and white tiger.”

That tiger looks like a totally different beast under Howe and owners the Saudi Public Investment Fund, compared with what it was like under the previous stewardship of Steve Bruce and Sports Direct billionaire Mike Ashley. While steady growth is the aim — the club does not intend to just buy