For Eddie Howe, the darkest hour really did come before the dawn. It was early November 2021 and the then unemployed manager headed to bed one Tuesday night reeling from a late phone call informing him that he had not, after all, landed a new job at Newcastle United.
If the disappointment was crushing, a subsequent call early the following morning would, in Howe’s words, prove “life-changing”. The news that Unai Emery had changed his mind, withdrawn a verbal agreement to succeed Steve Bruce at St James’ Park and decided to stay at Villarreal instead was followed by a question: might Howe still be interested in swapping the south coast for Tyneside?
