Eddie Howe reveals brilliant Newcastle United move from Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi

Howe’s side won 2-0 last night to move up to 12th in the Premier League table after of Sunday’s final game against Burnley – and better last season’s 45-point tally.

Newcastle hadn’t won a game before Howe’s appointment in early November, and the club’s head coach was embraced by Staveley and Ghodoussi on the pitch after the game.

Asked what they said, Howe said: “I couldn’t actually hear, to be honest! The noise … it was difficult to hear anything. It was just encouraging words from everyone. We’re all in a very good place, and very happy.”

United started the year in the relegation zone, and the club suffered an embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of Cambridge United in early January.

That result was followed by a home draw against Watford which left the club, which was taken over last October, 19th in the division with 12 points.

And Howe – who succeeded Steve Bruce at St James’s Park – says the reaction of Staveley and Ghodoussi to those setbacks will be one of his "abiding memories” of an extraordinary campaign.

Howe said: “They care. They care deeply. They care about the players. They care about the staff. They want to be involved, they want to be seen. They want to be actively helping. I think they were that way from the start.

"One of my abiding memories was after Cambridge. They came in to see me and the staff. Of course, that was a low moment for us.

"But, I think, it meant a lot for us to see them come in and say ‘come on, we go again’.

"The week after, it was Watford. They supported us again, and, I think, when you look back after a successful period, you look back at those moments and go ‘that was so important’. A big thank you to them.”

Ghodoussi posted a three-word tweet after the game, which was decided by a strike from Bruno Guimaraes and an own goal from Ben White. It simply read: “We are United.”

Newly-appointed director Majed Al Sorour flew in from Saudi Arabia to attend the game.