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Here to Compete: The Inside Story of Newcastle United and the Era of Eddie Howe
The quintessential book for Newcastle United fans everywhere, Sky Sports presenter Pete Graves tells the inside story of the Magpies today, using exclusive interviews with Eddie Howe and other club legends.
Welcome to Newcastle United, the most exciting football club in the world right now.
Since joining the team in 2021, Eddie Howe has been determined to transform Newcastle United from a perennial underachiever into one of the biggest teams in not just the Premier League, but Europe as well. With the players, fans and decision-makers finally all working together, and with the pain of the past behind them, the Magpies are ready for a new era to begin...
Telling the story of Newcastle through some of its most competitive moments, including Kevin Keegan and Bobby Robson's stewardships, as well as touching on some of its trickier times, television presenter and diehard fan Pete Graves recaps the team's history and goes inside the club to show what is so exciting about this team today.
Featuring interviews with key figures past and present, including Eddie Howe himself, Graves builds a picture of what's happening with Newcastle, both on and off the pitch, as they climb the league and set their sights on silverware.
With extensive research and unparalleled access, Here to Compete is the incredible story of a team reborn and the man who is on course to build an empire.
Welcome to Newcastle United, the most exciting football club in the world right now.
Since joining the team in 2021, Eddie Howe has been determined to transform Newcastle United from a perennial underachiever into one of the biggest teams in not just the Premier League, but Europe as well. With the players, fans and decision-makers finally all working together, and with the pain of the past behind them, the Magpies are ready for a new era to begin...
Telling the story of Newcastle through some of its most competitive moments, including Kevin Keegan and Bobby Robson's stewardships, as well as touching on some of its trickier times, television presenter and diehard fan Pete Graves recaps the team's history and goes inside the club to show what is so exciting about this team today.
Featuring interviews with key figures past and present, including Eddie Howe himself, Graves builds a picture of what's happening with Newcastle, both on and off the pitch, as they climb the league and set their sights on silverware.
With extensive research and unparalleled access, Here to Compete is the incredible story of a team reborn and the man who is on course to build an empire.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 26, 2023
15 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 8, 2024
As a lifelong Newcastle fan (and as it was a Christmas present from my wife) I wanted to like this book. Peter Graves has also supported Newcastle since he was a little boy and his enthusiasm and passion for the club shine through on every page; there’s no pretence at objectivity, it’s “we did this and we did that” meaning NUFC, as if the author was a part of the team. But that’s where the good things about it end.
The book is terribly written and I mean this in two senses. First, the writing is just bad, so basic it is difficult to believe that Graves is a successful journalist, albeit a broadcast journalist rather than of the print variety but one would still expect him to be able to write proper, interesting sentences. And there’s the second problem: much of it is very boring, even for a Newcastle fan.
Let’s begin with the first of those two issues, the writing itself. How can a professional journalist conjure up sentences such as this: “The next game we got pretty unlucky with”. And he obviously doesn’t know the difference between literally and figuratively, so we’re told, for example, that Eddie Howe “literally” wears the shoes of his players. It’s an amusing idea, Miggie being told to slip his little shoes off so that Howe can try and squeeze into them but it’s obviously not what Graves means.
And then there’s the boring part, page after page recounting one game and scoreline after another, every single game summarised in a sentence. Worse still, he details almost all of Eddie Howe’s games as the Bournemouth manager. Does anyone really care that in 2006 Bournemouth drew with both Luton and Lincoln City but then beat Shrewsbury and Accrington Stanley? And if they do, surely they know this already. A table would convey the same information in less than one tenth of the space.
There is an almost complete absence of any insight or analysis, it’s simply a recitation of past facts – this happened, then this happened and next this - mixed together with quotes from three interviews Graves did (with Keegan, Shearer and Howe) or taken from other public interviews with various participants.
And the cliches … if I had one pound for every tired old football cliché used in this book, I’d have almost as much money as Bruno earns in an hour.
I admire your obvious passion, Mr Graves but not your ability to write.
The book is terribly written and I mean this in two senses. First, the writing is just bad, so basic it is difficult to believe that Graves is a successful journalist, albeit a broadcast journalist rather than of the print variety but one would still expect him to be able to write proper, interesting sentences. And there’s the second problem: much of it is very boring, even for a Newcastle fan.
Let’s begin with the first of those two issues, the writing itself. How can a professional journalist conjure up sentences such as this: “The next game we got pretty unlucky with”. And he obviously doesn’t know the difference between literally and figuratively, so we’re told, for example, that Eddie Howe “literally” wears the shoes of his players. It’s an amusing idea, Miggie being told to slip his little shoes off so that Howe can try and squeeze into them but it’s obviously not what Graves means.
And then there’s the boring part, page after page recounting one game and scoreline after another, every single game summarised in a sentence. Worse still, he details almost all of Eddie Howe’s games as the Bournemouth manager. Does anyone really care that in 2006 Bournemouth drew with both Luton and Lincoln City but then beat Shrewsbury and Accrington Stanley? And if they do, surely they know this already. A table would convey the same information in less than one tenth of the space.
There is an almost complete absence of any insight or analysis, it’s simply a recitation of past facts – this happened, then this happened and next this - mixed together with quotes from three interviews Graves did (with Keegan, Shearer and Howe) or taken from other public interviews with various participants.
And the cliches … if I had one pound for every tired old football cliché used in this book, I’d have almost as much money as Bruno earns in an hour.
I admire your obvious passion, Mr Graves but not your ability to write.
October 31, 2023
Sky Sports reporter Pete Graves gives a sweeping overview of the tumultuous love affair all Newcastle fans have with the St James park outfit before he focuses on current events and Eddie Howe's revolution.
A very enjoyable and nostalgic look over the highs (of which there were few) and the lows (of which there are many) of being a Newcastle fan. The missed opportunities, the bad decision making and general chaos that went on behind the scenes of Newcastle is fitting material for a book. Graves is not only a Sky Sports reporter/radio commentator, but he is crucially a Newcastle fan. He speaks for all of us and it comes across in the book.
With exclusive access to Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Eddie Howe, its a roller coaster as the highs of 90s Newcastle gives way to the 15 years of Mike Ashley's tedious reign as owner before the Saudi led takeover some 2 years ago on October 2021.
The book ends, obviously, on a clear note of optimism with owners who care about what the fans want, improving stadium and revenue and with a manager in Eddie Howe whose particular brand of coaching and man management has seen him earn plaudits wherever he has gone and rightly so. Whilst the 2023/24 season may not replicate the Champions League placing/Caraboa Cup runners up season of last year, the club is definitely heading in the right direction with purpose and commitment for the first time since the days of Sir Bobby Robson.
An enjoyable read and recommended to Newcastle fans.
A very enjoyable and nostalgic look over the highs (of which there were few) and the lows (of which there are many) of being a Newcastle fan. The missed opportunities, the bad decision making and general chaos that went on behind the scenes of Newcastle is fitting material for a book. Graves is not only a Sky Sports reporter/radio commentator, but he is crucially a Newcastle fan. He speaks for all of us and it comes across in the book.
With exclusive access to Kevin Keegan, Alan Shearer and Eddie Howe, its a roller coaster as the highs of 90s Newcastle gives way to the 15 years of Mike Ashley's tedious reign as owner before the Saudi led takeover some 2 years ago on October 2021.
The book ends, obviously, on a clear note of optimism with owners who care about what the fans want, improving stadium and revenue and with a manager in Eddie Howe whose particular brand of coaching and man management has seen him earn plaudits wherever he has gone and rightly so. Whilst the 2023/24 season may not replicate the Champions League placing/Caraboa Cup runners up season of last year, the club is definitely heading in the right direction with purpose and commitment for the first time since the days of Sir Bobby Robson.
An enjoyable read and recommended to Newcastle fans.
January 19, 2024
Not much in this Newcastle fans don't already know. The first part of the book goes over Newcastle from the late 80's to Kegan taking over and then leaving. Touches on Dalgliesh & Gullit and goes into detail on Robson taking over and then why he left. Briefly goes on to cover the time Souness was there. Pete does actually say he doesn't want to cover the 14 years Mike Ashley had the club but would be doing the club and book a disservice if he left it out, rightly so. This part of the book is actually a good chunk of it but it's needed really, any history of Newcastle United and anything explaining the future needs this covering.
The last third of the book goes over everything from the first failed attempt of the takeover in 2017 by PCP, as well as the various other interested parties trying to buy the club from Ashley, up until the completed takeover in 2021, and then covers everything from November 2021 up until the start of the 23/24 season.
Some good bits from Keegan going in depth on why he left, and some really insightful comments from Eddie, Shearer and others involved in the club. Only really Newcastle fans and proper football nerds are gonna appreciate this book.
The last third of the book goes over everything from the first failed attempt of the takeover in 2017 by PCP, as well as the various other interested parties trying to buy the club from Ashley, up until the completed takeover in 2021, and then covers everything from November 2021 up until the start of the 23/24 season.
Some good bits from Keegan going in depth on why he left, and some really insightful comments from Eddie, Shearer and others involved in the club. Only really Newcastle fans and proper football nerds are gonna appreciate this book.
July 19, 2024
Dette var ikke «the inside story». Det var utdrag fra noen samtaler med Shearer, Keegan og Howe, men ikke mer enn vi har hørt fra dem andre steder. Ellers var det ni hundre kampreferater, noe som føles spesielt unyttig for kamper som er bare et år gamle.
Forfatteren sier i forordet at denne boka ikke handler om ham. Likevel får han dekket hele karrieren sin som kommentator og reporter for Sky Sports, og ikke minst fortalt om oppveksten som Newcastle-fan. Sistnevnte er egentlig det eneste jeg fikk ut av denne boka, for det gir et innblikk i hvordan det var å leve i Newcastle – og med Newcastle United – på starten av nittitallet, den gangen jeg selv fant dette laget. Når det er sagt: folk som skriver mye om seg selv, bør enten være interessante eller skrive på en interessant måte. Graves virker som en utrolig kjedelig person. Det er han sikkert ikke. Men han er ingen skribent. Og det vises.
Boka er også skrøpelig redigert. Lista bør legges høyere enn at Kieran Trippiers navn feilstaves minst tre ganger, og at samme lange sitat fra Howe brukes i to påfølgende kapitler.
Forfatteren sier i forordet at denne boka ikke handler om ham. Likevel får han dekket hele karrieren sin som kommentator og reporter for Sky Sports, og ikke minst fortalt om oppveksten som Newcastle-fan. Sistnevnte er egentlig det eneste jeg fikk ut av denne boka, for det gir et innblikk i hvordan det var å leve i Newcastle – og med Newcastle United – på starten av nittitallet, den gangen jeg selv fant dette laget. Når det er sagt: folk som skriver mye om seg selv, bør enten være interessante eller skrive på en interessant måte. Graves virker som en utrolig kjedelig person. Det er han sikkert ikke. Men han er ingen skribent. Og det vises.
Boka er også skrøpelig redigert. Lista bør legges høyere enn at Kieran Trippiers navn feilstaves minst tre ganger, og at samme lange sitat fra Howe brukes i to påfølgende kapitler.
January 7, 2024
Read through this rather rapidly and enjoyed it. The early 90s are when I started going to games, around the same time as the author, so it's good for nostalgia, although I left the Northeast for a lot of the intervening years. Goes through some of the highs (Keegan's first spell, Robson, Benitez) as well as the considerable amount of lows. There's a nice chapter on Eddie Howe's stint at Bournemouth which is well worth a read. A real love letter to the club and optimism for the future.
February 22, 2024
A good read if you are a Newcastle fan.
March 6, 2024
It didn't feel particularly well written but it was about Newcastle so naturally I liked it.
I needed some positivity as we've been a bit off it recently :/
I needed some positivity as we've been a bit off it recently :/
June 24, 2024
this was pretty good but i just can't stop thinking about how much i miss my dad now :((
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews