Eddie Howe has insisted Newcastle United’s woeful cup record can be used as an inspiration to create history - and not a burden.
The Geordies have not won a trophy since the Fairs’ Cup on June 11, 1969. When Howe was told 39 days after Bob Moncur’s triumph, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon (July 20), he laughed and said: “That is a nice way of putting it!” And Newcastle ’s last domestic success was in 1955 in the FA Cup.
Howe is expected to rest Callum Wilson who’s had a cold, and juggle his squad for the visit of Crystal Palace, but says he’s picking a team to win. Howe said: “My dream is to win something with Newcastle and that has not changed. I don't know if 'burden' is the right word.
"I try to look at it the other way: as it's not been done for a long time it’s a chance to create, maybe, some of our own history here, and leave a legacy of hopefully winning something. That should be a driver, not a pressure that's a negative on us. We would love to go far. I’m reluctant to talk about winning too early.”
The mentality change at Newcastle is stark, with Howe pointedly embracing the pressure to deliver. In May 2014, at a “Fans forum with board members including MD Lee Charnley, the club argued that cup runs put the Premier League campaign in jeopardy, and said the league was the priority.
The minutes of that meeting read: "The board outlined research into Premier League clubs in relation to domestic cup competition in the last five years, with Swansea the only club outside the traditional six to win a domestic cup and not be relegated in the same season (Wigan and Birmingham were both relegated).” The Newcastle board again replied: "At this moment in time, the club's priority is the Premier League."
Howe is the latest manager to ditch that thinking, and anyway Newcastle are third in the Premier League. He said: “At Bournemouth and here my philosophy has always been to try to progress and build a winning mentality. You also want to give a chance to your squad to show they’re good enough and make their claim for a Premier League place. It’s a delicate balance. Most important thing is to approach the game in the right way.”
Howe says he will deal with the “emotional” fallout of England and other squad announcements this week. Joelinton was left out of the Brazil squad. But Kieran Trippier will be in England’s and Callum Wilson hopes to join Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford as lead strikers on the plane to Qatar.
They will know on Thursday morning at the latest and Howe said: “It is a strange week. You have a World Cup selection during a busy spell of games. There will be lots of emotions flying around. Hopefully they get called up. I will pick the team with the fit players I have and the strongest team to win the game. We will have to deal with the emotion and the fall out of the squads as they get announced.”
