GRAEME JONES claims Newcastle United’s spirited second-half fightback against Brighton proves Eddie Howe will be inheriting a “healthy football club” if, as looks likely, his appointment is confirmed in the next couple of days.
Howe was watching on from the directors’ box at the Amex Stadium as Isaac Hayden’s equaliser secured a 1-1 draw that lifted the Magpies off the foot of the Premier League table.
The result means Newcastle are still waiting for their first win of the season, and have now recorded their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign.
However, Jones was delighted with the way in which his players battled back after falling behind to Leandro Trossard’s first-half penalty, and feels Howe will have a solid foundation to build from in the next few months.
Jones said: “It’s easy to fracture in situations like this, but we as a group have not allowed it. The boys are together, and whoever comes in will inherit a healthy football club., pulling in the same direction.
“We wanted to win, but you don’t achieve what we’ve achieved today without that. You don’t achieve the response, and the manner of the response, if you’re not together. That’s so pleasing.”
Howe sat alongside Newcastle co-owner Amanda Staveley in the main stand at the Amex Stadium, and while reports emerged today suggesting talks had hit a snag over the make-up of his proposed backroom team, his presence suggests his appointment should be confirmed in the next couple of days.
He will then head into the international break with two weeks to prepare for Newcastle’s next game against Brentford, with Jones revealing he did not have any contact with Howe either before or during today’s match.
Jones said: “He didn’t have any input. I’ve had no contact with him. Eddie’s a professional man. He will have realised that I was doing the game and I’d planned it, and he left me alone to focus on it.
“I haven’t had anything. It was good to see him at the game, but we’ll have to wait and see what the outcome of that is still. I’ve just got on with things.”
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