Eddie Howe was standing at the top of the meeting room as the Newcastle United head coach outlined his 'non-negotiables' and called on those around him to put the interests of the team before their own. It was one of Howe's first team meetings at the club and it set the tone for what was to come.
Just as Ciaran Clark, Federico Fernandez and Dwight Gayle helped to maintain standards around the training ground, even when they were not in the side, another group of younger players have followed suit since the trio left the club. Take Matt Targett, for example, who started the season as first-choice left-back after his loan move from Aston Villa was made permanent in the summer.
Targett has not started a Premier League game since September but, rather than sulk, the defender has continued to push his team-mates in training and support them on a match day - even if he would love to be playing himself. Indeed, it did not go unnoticed how Targett not only shared the team photograph taken in the dressing room minutes after the Boxing Day win at Leicester City on his Instagram Stories; the defender also added the following caption: 'Love it lads!'
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Allan Saint-Maximin and Elliot Anderson, who played a combined 13 minutes as substitutes at the King Power Stadium, followed suit with their own posts. Despite a lack of game time in the Premier League, clearly, these players feel part of it and they are playing their part in Newcastle's resurgence as Kieran Trippier explained.
"We've talked about the togetherness as a group," Trippier told Amazon Prime Video. "The players that don't play as much as they want to, the players who are not playing, are so important to the team.
"That real togetherness can take you so far in football and I feel that we have got that. We've talked about how we can do something special this season and it's about believing and taking that next step."
You can see why Howe is desperate not to 'destroy' that team-first spirit in the dressing room and any new recruits will have to buy into that team-first mentality in 2023 - regardless of how talented they are. Yes, money has already been spent but that spirit has been one of the secrets behind Newcastle's transformation in the last 12 months - and it goes a long way. Danny Simpson, who was part of the last Newcastle side to upset the established order, in 2012, before going on to win the title with Leicester City four years later, previously told ChronicleLive it 'gives you that extra 5%' because you want to do 'a bit more for your friend next to you'.
Such bonds have only been strengthened at Newcastle in the last year or so with players telling their stories in the fortnightly timeline sessions at the training ground. It is here that they have learned something they did not previously know about a colleague, such as a tough upbringing or a family member who died, and these revelations have only brought the squad closer together.
Whereas leaks were a common occurrence in a previous era - one current member of the squad first read that he was going to be dropped in the media - it is not a coincidence that has not been the case under Howe. Howe constantly speaks to his players and, while he won't necessarily go into too much detail, the 45-year-old will explain why he has made a particular call because he knows big decisions need to be communicated.
Those players who have been out of the side have appreciated that honesty and recognise that the team are on a superb run. They also know their chance will come. After all, it is easy to forget that Sven Botman and Sean Longstaff did not begin the season as starters.
Although Botman and Longstaff have been part of a settled side for some time now, Howe will make changes in the next few weeks with potentially nine games to come in just 30 days if the Magpies make it through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and the fourth round of the FA Cup. In the meantime, you can be sure that Targett and co will continue to push those around them.
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