From go-karting to sheep herding - Inside Eddie Howe's…

From go-karting to sheep herding - Inside Eddie Howe's methods to increase Newcastle squad morale

Full squad bike rides, competitive go-karting sessions, bowling tournaments and American pool forfeits. Newcastle United players are certainly mixing work with pleasure out in Austria as they prepare for the upcoming Premier League campaign.

Eddie Howe has recently used warm-weather trips to Saudi Arabia and Dubai to ensure his team enjoy a tight-knit bond both on and off the pitch. The Magpies boss is keen for players to enjoy a close relationship with one another and sees trips abroad as the ideal opportunity to boost team spirit.

Upon his arrival at Newcastle, Howe also asked first-team players for personal information such as the birthdays of family members in a move that shocked squad members. Ryan Fraser, who won the team's Austrian go-karting session in recent days, has spoken openly about the emphasis the Newcastle coach puts on squad morale during these periods abroad in the off-season.

"Even going out to Saudi, that team bonding, small things like that, he thinks about everything the gaffer," the winger told NUFC TV earlier this year. "Go karting and riding on camels, it was all together. Finding out more about each other. On Friday's we do timelines to know each player better.

"Personal stuff that maybe players didn't know about one another, but you respect them and it means you go out there and fight for each other when you know things that you maybe didn't before. The gaffer thinks about everything."

Howe's methods aren't new by any means and have been tried and tested at Bournemouth and Burnley during his coaching career too. Former Burnley midfielder Keith Tracey recently explained how Howe can sometimes use unorthodox methods to boost squad camaraderie.

Speaking to the Underthecosh podcast, Tracey said: "He brought us down to Bath on a pre-season thing and we played Bath. We won 1-0 but that night we were having dinner at the hotel and he's like 'Lads in reception at 8am in the morning a bit of team bonding for you.' We're thinking 'Lovely, paintball, golf or anything.'

"Next morning we're all stiff after the first game back. We jump on a coach and we're winding through the mountains. We pulled into a farm and we're like 'There must be a nice café in here or something.' All of a sudden a farmer comes in whistling and these sheepdogs are wizzing around. 'Lads that's what you're going to be doing.'

"I've never seen so many heads fall off at once in my entire life. Sheep herding. Unbelievable pre-season bonding around some f****** hills in Bath. It was a disgrace there was heads falling off all over. The best thing was there was this one problem sheep and he kept f****** off from the group. We ended up cornering him and just by chance we in a corner. Next thing Eddie Howe links me and says 'Lads if we link in and go towards him we'll be able to get him.

"He was saying 'Get a chain together, stay strong and don't move the sheep will back down.' The sheep ran straight at him and he jumped out of the way. If he'd have stayed strong and the sheep backed down I would have understood where he was going but he just backed out of it. All of that for that one moment."

Howe will be hoping his rejuvenated side can hit the ground running when Premier League football returns next month. Newcastle know they need a drastically different start to the disastrous opening of the 2021/22 season.

From go-karting to sheep herding - Inside Eddie Howe's methods to increase Newcastle squad morale

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