Andy Gray has showered praise on Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe for the improved defensive performances.
Newcastle have been arguably the Premier League’s best team this calendar year.
The Magpies have won three of their five Premier League outings in 2022, drawing the other two.
In addition to that, Howe’s outfit have only conceded three goals throughout these specific games, highlighting that the 44-year-old manager has made the St James’s Park a lot more solid.
Newcastle are 17th in the standings and four points clear of the bottom three.
Honestly, it would be a major shock if the Tyneside club did wind up getting relegated from this position, based on how brilliant they’re looking at the moment.
During his time at Bournemouth, Howe was linked with the Arsenal job repeatedly and it’s because the style of football he employed was significantly more exciting than anything Newcastle are managing at the moment.
However, this shift in philosophy is what, at the moment, is saving the Magpies and Gray has praised the young manager for that.
He told BeIN Sport: “What he has done, which is maybe unlike Eddie Howe, is he seems to have concentrated on let’s be stingy at the back, let’s be tough to play against, let’s not concede goals. And if we can do that then you’re only going to need one [goal] to win a game.”
It isn’t pretty at Newcastle at the moment, but who even cares? Not a single Magpie supporter.
The short-term goal for United is to stay in the Premier League and perhaps this summer, when Howe can spend much more money and shape the squad in his image, he can go back to trying to entertain.
But for now, results are paramount and quite honestly, Newcastle are picking them up consistently for the very first time this season.
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