Newcastle manager in defiant mood before facing former club while Liverpool’s manager seeks uplift from derby
A defiant Eddie Howe has vowed to “fight harder than ever before” to reignite Newcastle’s season and has debunked suggestions that history is repeating itself as he apparently runs out of ideas on Tyneside.
With Newcastle 14th in the Premier League, there is a school of thought that Howe’s hitherto successful time at St James’ Park is ending in similar fashion to the disappointing conclusion of his Bournemouth tenure six years ago. Howe, who comes up against his former club, fails to detect such parallels.
“Every club’s different and this club is totally different to Bournemouth,” he said. “If me leaving helps the club, then, of course, that’s something I’ll do. I’ve got no issue doing that. It’s not about me. But if I believe I’m right person to take the club forward, which I do right now, then I’ll do that and fight to the end. I’ll fight harder than I’ve ever fought before. My fire is burning very, very strongly. There’s loads of wood stacked up and I’m ready to put it on it.”
Howe hopes to revive Newcastle’s creative spark against on Saturday and win a league fixture against his old club for the first time since leaving the south coast. His cause is hindered by the swirl of transfer speculation surrounding three of his key players – Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Tino Livramento.
