Eddie Howe showed a 'real touch of class' when the Newcastle United boss phoned former Magpies assistant Stephen Clemence to explain that he wanted to bring in his 'own people'.
Clemence and fellow number two Steve Agnew left the club following Howe's appointment in November, 2021. Although Howe wanted to keep assistant Graeme Jones, who was someone the Newcastle boss already 'knew and respected', the 45-year-old also made it 'very clear' from the outset about the importance of his staff following him to St James' Park.
Howe, as a result, was also able to bring in a new assistant in Jason Tindall as well as first-team coaches Stephen Purches and Simon Weatherstone and head of performance Dan Hodges, who had, also, all previously worked with Jones at Bournemouth. However, there were certainly no hard feelings on Clemence's part. Quite the opposite, in fact.
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“I’m a big fan of Eddie," Clemence told the Times. "I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he handles himself.
"Eddie showed a real touch of class. He phoned me a few days [after leaving]. He didn’t need to do that because I understand how football works.
“Eddie said, ‘Look, Stephen, I just wanted to let you know I’ve heard nothing bad about you as a person, nothing bad about you as a coach. I just hope you understand I wanted my own people around me.’ I said, ‘I totally understand. As an English coach I really want you to go and do well in the Premier League because that’s good for all of us.'"
