Ex-Arsenal star outlines 'difficult' task facing Eddie Howe at Newcastle United – and what he must do to succeed

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes a strong start from Eddie Howe is key to Newcastle United’s Premier League survival hopes.
Eddie Howe is the new head coach of Newcastle United. (Photo by Ian Walton/Pool via Getty Images)Eddie Howe is the new head coach of Newcastle United. (Photo by Ian Walton/Pool via Getty Images)
Eddie Howe is the new head coach of Newcastle United. (Photo by Ian Walton/Pool via Getty Images)

The Bournemouth legend was appointed as the club’s new head coach on Monday – and he wasted no time in getting started.

Howe turned up at the club’s Benton training base at 6:45am this morning as he prepared to meet the players for the first time.

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It will be a busy international break for Howe as he looks to steer 19th placed and winless Newcastle away from relegation trouble.

“It’s a difficult task,” Smith told Sky Sports when asked about keeping United in the top-flight. “But he’s got a lot of games to play with.

"You can go through the fixtures and think ‘he could get something here or there’ but you never quite know.

“They’ve certainly got to raise their game a great deal. First and foremost, he’s got to sort out that defence which has been nowhere near good enough.

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"It’d be great for him to get off to a good start just to try and get momentum going – I think that’s important.

"Get the fans on his side and get the players on his side. They’ll all be having a good look at him in the first few training sessions, listening to what he says and how he’s setting up the team.

"Players being players, they tend to make up their minds as to whether they think this fella is any good or not but that comes with getting results.

"If he puts out a side that starts to work and get some results then they build faith in the manager and that’s vital. "

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Critics are quick to point out Howe’s relegation at Bournemouth, however, Smith prefers to look at the bigger picture.

“It’s easy to forget how brilliantly well he did at Bournemouth,” he added.

"Obviously it didn’t end great but the way he built that whole football club up from the lower divisions was spectacular.

"He’s clearly a man that devotes all of his energy into doing his best for whoever he’s working for.

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"It’s going to be really interesting over the next couple of transfer windows as well – he’s never had this amount of money to spend, so it’s going be fascinating to see how they go about that.

“I’m pleased for Eddie Howe. I think he’s one of the good guys and he’s a very talented manager.”