Eddie Howe has revealed that coach analyst Mark Leyland has made a 'big impact' since joining the club from Liverpool as Jurgen Klopp jokingly warned his former colleague 'we play a completely different team' now.
Leyland, of course, has been helping to plot the downfall of his former employers this week as quadruple-chasing Liverpool travel to St James' Park to face Newcastle on Saturday. It certainly won't be the first time that Leyland's inside knowledge of Liverpool will be tapped into by Newcastle and Klopp and assistant Pep Lijnders even joked with the Scouser about that prospect ahead of the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Klopp did not want to lose Leyland last December but, tellingly, the Liverpool boss did not stand in his way or force him to serve a lengthy notice period. The club's former head of post-match and elite player development analysis was even given a round of applause by players and staff at the training ground on his last day, which shows how well-regarded he was.
READ MORE: Everything Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said on Liverpool fixture and facing Jurgen Klopp
Howe already knew about Leyland's eye for detail, having worked with the analyst at Burnley, where he produced live match, opposition and post-match analysis, and the head coach was keen to reunite with his former colleague at Newcastle. Leyland had effectively hit a glass ceiling at Liverpool so jumped at the chance to assist with the implementation of training and coaching at Newcastle and his influence has been felt behind the scenes.
"Like all my staff, he's had a big impact," Howe told reporters ahead of the Liverpool game. "He's played a huge part in what we've done this season.
"He's one of a number of people behind the scenes that have put a tireless amount of work in to try and improve the team. We love him to bits and he's been an integral part of our team."
Newcastle have certainly come a long way since the 3-1 reverse at Anfield earlier this season. Newcastle were languishing in 19th place back then but, remarkably, Howe's side are now flying high in ninth. In fact, only Liverpool have been in better form in the Premier League in the last three months.
Klopp was the first to pay tribute to Newcastle's 'incredible run' during his own pre-match press conference on Friday. As well as saluting Howe for 'playing a massive part', the Liverpool boss said the same about Leyland before looking down the lens of the camera and joking: "Mark, if you see this, we play a completely different team!"
Leyland, a boyhood Liverpool supporter, was excited by the challenge of joining Newcastle at this stage of the project but, clearly, the Magpies still have an awful lot of work to do to bridge the gap on those sides at the top. Howe, understandably, refused to give a timeline on when Newcastle can one day do just that, but insisted 'it's something we aspire to'.
"I've spoken before about the infrastructure and we do need to improve what we deliver for our players," Howe added. "Certain aspects of the club need to evolve and change as we hopefully sign new players and develop the squad as we want to.
"These things can't be rushed and you have to do it properly so there will be a process that will take time. What time that takes? I don't know.
"There's lots of hurdles we have to go through. You can't just flick a switch but, hopefully, we will get there. The ambition is certainly there to do it and that's the most important thing."
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