David James insists that he knew Eddie Howe was going to be a success at Newcastle United after working with him previously at AFC Bournemouth.
The former England international had a short stint under Howe at Dean Court during the latter stages of his career. The Cherries were in League One at the time, and although James admits that he didn't expect them to reach the Premier League, he could sense a promising project building at the club.
"I knew Bournemouth were going to do well - I didn’t think they would get to the Premier League. When they got to the Premier League, there were seven players from League One that went with them two years later," James told Lord Ping.
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"When Eddie got the Newcastle job, straight away I thought that Newcastle were going to do well."
James would leave the South Coast club mutual consent in March 2013 after amassing 19 appearances for the club before being dropped for Shwan Jalal between the sticks.
Bournemouth achieved automatic promotion at the end of the campaign, and would enter the Premier League by lifting the Championship title two years later in 2015. And James believes that one of Howe's biggest strengths was his man-management skills.
James added: "Eddie’s delivery, and I say this fondly, was quite monotone. He speaks very clearly, very concisely, without emotion.
"At the time, we had some very gifted younger players who were a little bit insecure and what these players are looking for from a manager is an emotional response - that is what they feel they needed to give them reassurance they were doing the right things.
"Eddie’s approach was different. At half-time, he would say to his players ‘I’ve asked you to do something on the pitch, if you don’t do it within the next fifteen minutes, I will bring you off.’
"He didn’t rant and rave, so the player that was waiting for an emotional response got a very clear message and responded accordingly."
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