TA: Eddie Howe has a close relationship with Liverpool executives, but the Isaac incident made him feel offended

The Athletic reported that Eddie Howe has a close relationship with Liverpool senior executives, but the incident of Isaac made Eddie Howe feel offended.

As Eddie Howe said, the atmosphere at St. James Park Stadium will be full of passion. The first home game of the season coincides with the bank holiday Monday. Under the bright lights, Newcastle will carry the backlog of emotions of the entire city, but this time the target of venting anger is no longer Isaac, but Liverpool.

Throughout the summer, resentment continued to ferment and heat up in Newcastle, and may reach a boiling point tonight. Isaac's actions - rejecting Newcastle's affection with fans and betraying the coach and teammates when pushing for a transfer - have aroused public anger. Liverpool, who is determined to sign him, will become the bearer of this resentment.

This Premier League showdown is destined to be a box office guarantee in the eyes of broadcasters. At least within the arena, modern football has become too warm to some people. With only one week left before the transfer window is closed, Isaac insists that he will no longer play for Newcastle, Liverpool's interest is still strong, and the head-on confrontation between the two teams is exciting. What is difficult to capture in TV cameras is the surging tide behind the scenes. When Newcastle coach Eddie Howe shook hands with Liverpool's new coach Slott on the sidelines, the camera will definitely focus, but it cannot record the temperature drop sharply when the Liverpool delegation arrives in the conference room. If Liverpool agrees to offer £150 million and Newcastle can sign at least one striker as a replacement, a deal may still be reached within seven days, but the atmosphere between the management of both sides has reached an extreme tension.

Eddie Howe is at the center of the storm. He not only wants to inspire the team to use the surging energy of this game correctly, but also because Liverpool's pursuit of Isaac - the storm that disrupts his club - is driven by two old friends he has known for more than 20 years. It all goes back to the early 2000s, when Eddie Howe played for Portsmouth.

Liverpool Sports Director Richard Hughes was Eddie Howe's teammate at Portsmouth, and later played under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, and then joined his club recruiting team and promoted to sports director. Although there have been failed deals such as signing Jordan Iber from Liverpool to attract criticism from outside (most of the criticism points to Eddie Howe), Bournemouth's signings have won more respect from the industry. The transactions of Solank, Ak, Ramsdale, Mins, Danjuma, etc. in Hughes all brought considerable profits, and selling Zabarney to Paris Saint-Germain this summer continues this model.

Eddie Howe and Hughes are not only colleagues, but a former colleague who asked to be anonymous revealed that the two have always been close since Bournemouth and Eddie Howe left office in 2020. When Liverpool Football CEO Michael Edwards worked for Portsmouth in the 2000s, his analyst job was highly appreciated by Eddie Howe and Hughes. At that time, the three established a deep friendship with analyst David Woodfain and center Mark Burcher (now Liverpool's assistant sports director and technical chief scout respectively).

differs from the frictions in the relationship between many coaches and athletic directors, Eddie Howe's partnership with Richard Hughes is characterized by complete trust and a shared vision.

This adds a subtle footnote to Liverpool's pursuit of Isaac, and some speculate that Eddie Howe's old relationship with Liverpool's management may lead to a deal. But if this idea was indeed the beginning of this summer, the conflicts with both sides escalated over time, and this possibility would have long disappeared.

When asked whether the personal relationship with Liverpool's senior executives made Isaac's transfer drama "private", Eddie Howe said on Friday: "This is not a private issue, it is a professional issue. It is about Isaac, our team and club. The behavior of other clubs has nothing to do with me."

Regarding whether Liverpool incites Isaac to leave the team, he responded: "I have no right to comment, only focus on the club's code of conduct."

People close to Eddie Howe revealed that his private anger is far beyond public performance. An anonymous source pointed out that the incident this summer caused a collapse of hostility and trust, and St. James Park believes that Eddie Howe was disrespected.