Rio Ferdinand has praised Eddie Howe for the manner in which he has gone about the season at Newcastle United. Howe's men stand on the brink of Champions League glory, with just one point needed from their remaining two matches to seal a top-four finish.
It's been a remarkable season so far for the Magpies and there is just one more job to do to cap off a fantastic campaign.
Newcastle welcome relegation-threatened Leicester City this evening and they will be playing in Europe's biggest competition next season if they can avoid defeat.
READ MORE: Eddie Howe well aware of what Newcastle's lofty finish means ahead of next term
Ferdinand believes had Newcastle qualified for Europe's other two competitions, either the Europa League or Conference League, that in itself would have been a great achievement and a mark of progress.
However, that they are now set to go even better shines a light on the job Howe and his coaching staff have done but it's the personality of the manager that stands out for Ferdinand, at a time when the eyes of the footballing world are now on St James' Park.
"I have to say about Eddie Howe," Ferdinand told BT Sport. "Everyone would have said they would be happy with Europe, getting into Europe, the conference league or whatever.
"They would have said brilliant job and that's the next stage. But to do what he's done, Champions League football is almost there.
"I watched them against Brighton the other day. Brighton are a fantastic team, they give everyone problems but they dismantled them, over-ran them, overpowered them, the energy in that squad and in that stadium now, the place is vibrant and he's done it with that cool and calm approach, very meticulously.
"He's in a fish bowl. It's a crazy place up there when a little bit of success starts coming into the stadium and he's been really calm. He's let Jason Tindall take all the headlines and he just chills in the background."
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