Eddie Howe was driving across Interstate 10 this summer, away from Los Angeles and into the Californian desert, when he was momentarily grateful for the loss of phone signal.
In the back of the hire car were his three young sons. Their black-and-white jerseys may have been in the suitcase, but they had little time for their dad’s transfer talk.
‘The calls in the car on loudspeaker… they’re difficult when you’ve got three kids in the back — it’s absolute mayhem!’ says Howe, reflecting from the rather more tranquil surrounds of Newcastle United’s pre-season base here in the Austrian countryside.
Eddie Howe wants to add more attacking options to his Newcastle team for the new season
‘You could be speaking to another manager, getting an opinion on a player, and you have to apologise several times for the noise in the back. That’s just how it is.’
Howe is relentless in his pursuit of betterment. It is no coincidence that, shortly after returning from holiday, Newcastle signed goalkeeper Nick Pope and defender Sven Botman. The hard yards had been done on the highways.
‘People say, “Take a couple of weeks off and you’ll be ready to go again”. It doesn’t work like that. The job is 365 days a year. If you miss two days, you could miss something very important.’
Howe’s wife, Vicki, would be forgiven for demanding her husband switch his phone to silent.
Newcastle are tracking Red Bull Salzburg forward Benjamin Sesko (right) to add to their attack
‘She knows me now! There is no issue with her rolling her eyes, or having a go at me, or tutting. Maybe in the early stages of our relationship, when we were working each other out, there might have been. But now, she almost embraces it, “No, I understand, you have to take calls”.
I love my holiday with my kids, but she knows there’s something in the back of my mind that will never go away. You know the success of the whole of next season is dependent on what you do, and she has that understanding. And there were plenty of calls. You are on the other side of the world, but it doesn’t stop, it really doesn’t, you have work to do.’
The family road trip also took in the beaches and water parks of southern California. So, do the boys have the same understanding as their mum?
‘Er, no, not so well. Their criticism of me, as they’re getting older, is they’re more aware when I’m on the phone. If we’re about to go on a water slide, they don’t…