Norwich City boss Dean Smith has highlighted Kieran Trippier as a shining example of Eddie Howe's shrewd recruitment at Newcastle United. Trippier has played in each of Newcastle's nine Premier League games this season and has captained the Magpies in all but one of those games in Jamaal Lascelles' absence.
The 32-year-old was reportedly on Smith's radar when he was Aston Villa boss in the summer of 2021. Howe has injected further Premier League experience into his side with the likes of Nick Pope, Dan Burn and Matt Targett, and Smith believes they've found a real "leader" in Trippier.
Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Two things about Newcastle and certainly Eddie Howe stand out to me. The first one is his recruitment. Good players - we have to get good players but good characters.
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"Callum Wilson mentioned Kieran Trippier. Tripps is an unbelievable character and a leader within that dressing room."
Smith also emphasized the importance of building relationships with the fanbase and insists that the morale of the supporters can often dictate whether or not a manager will succeed. The Norwich boss claimed that Howe has helped bring not only the squad together, but those in the offices and the stands too.
"The second thing was togetherness but it's not just togetherness within the dressing room," he added. "It'll be within the offices and this is how Eddie works but also the connection with the supporters as well.
"We managed to get it at Aston Villa when we got promoted and it carried with us because we had the link of Jack Grealish being a Villa fan and me being a Villa fan as well. That actually helped us. I think Steve Cooper has got that at Forest, Arteta has got that [at Arsenal]. You've got to build a connection because the supporters will help you be successful and I think that's been proven and seen at a lot of football clubs at the moment."
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