Eddie Howe on 'exhilarating' Newcastle challenge, his coaching journey and Champions League ambitions

Now in his fifth year as coach of Newcastle United, Eddie Howe has already earned hero status at St James' Park. After securing the club UEFA Champions League football for the first time in two decades in the 2023/24 campaign, Howe went on to guide the Magpies to a first trophy in 56 years by winning the League Cup last season.

Back for a second attempt at Champions League success in the current campaign, Newcastle travel to Azerbaijan to face Qarabağ on Wednesday in the first leg of their knockout phase play-off tie. Speaking to UEFA ahead of the encounter, Howe discussed his side's evolution, his ascension as a coach and what he has learned from Pep Guardiola.

On his Newcastle team's development

It's a new team, and I felt that at the beginning of this season. We went through a cycle of three and a half years together with the same group of players, and there was a lot of turnover in recent transfer windows, the summer being the big one. In some senses, we've started afresh.

We've been trying to gel and find the best way of working with those new players. I'd say we've improved and we're going in the right direction, but there's more to come. I’m really excited about the future with the team, but at the moment, we've still got some more gears to go to be at our very best.

The first year we had in the Champions League two years ago was just an amazing experience all round to be in it, but now we want to do well in it. There's a different feel this year. We've really enjoyed the teams [we've played], they've been tough, but I think they've made us a better team because of it.

On how his style of coaching has evolved

Very early on, I realised I had to be a pragmatist. I had to be very mindful of the fact that what we had, in my very early days as a coach, we had to maximise. And to do that, it was very simple game plans, very effective, trying to win the game to really protect our livelihoods and stay working and keep the club that I was working for alive.

And then as I've been able to build knowledge and resources, I've become more of an idealist and trying to produce a team that I'm proud to manage, I'm proud to watch and I'm excited to watch. You go with the evolution of the game. You go through trends to where I am now. And I've got no worries in saying, "I'll do what it takes to win, but I want to do it in a style that I enjoy watching."

On whether coaching has been more difficult than he expected

I thought it was going to be hard anyway. There was no part of me, when I was a player, that thought 'That looks easy'. But I think when you're doing it, it's only then you truly realise the size of the job you're doing because you're having to balance so many different things.

You've got players, you've got staff, supporters, media. You've got to try and get each part of those relationships as strong as you can and treat everyone as well as you can while trying to win games of football, which sounds quite simple, but it's a delicate act. You've got to try to get it right every single day. And the brain is always thinking of one of those aspects, even when you're asleep. So, it's all consuming.

On which Champions League coach he has learned the most from

I'm going to say Pep Guardiola because whenever you go against his teams, they have been the most rewarding learning experiences. And the majority of those have been in the Premier League, and they have been some tough experiences for us, trust me.

They're such a difficult team to prepare for, but it's only with hindsight you look back and go: Well, we learned and developed a lot from either going against his teams and seeing how they play or reflecting on how we did against them and then trying to come up with a plan that makes us stronger next time. Sometimes, from the hardest experiences you learn the most. And, for me, he's been the best coach that I've ever come up against.

On how he'd sum up his time at Newcastle so far

"Exhilarating", I suppose, is a really good word to use because it's been an incredible time. I've enjoyed every second of it. It's been, overall, a lot of success. But at times, you're on the edge because it's such a demanding club, in such a positive way.

There are high expectations, there are high demands set upon us to achieve success and to keep winning, which is a great thing, and we've really tried to respond to that. It's an amazing club to be a part of and to manage. We consider ourselves very lucky. It is exhilarating, and I hope that remains the case.