Harvey Barnes has revealed Newcastle United's players were as shocked as anyone by Eddie Howe's sudden departure, but a planned trip to Spain proved the "perfect scenario" for quickly buying into new head coach Matthias Jaissle's ideas.
Speaking to Chronicle Live, Barnes opened up on the turbulent 24 hours that followed his last media appearance, which came after Newcastle's 4-1 defeat to Bristol City in July. Just 12 hours after that conversation, news emerged that Howe was set to leave, with the club confirming his exit a day later as players jetted off to La Manga without him.
A shock to the squad
"Yeah, I mean, it was [a shock]," Barnes explained. "Of course, we were no different to anyone else, we didn't know what was happening. It happened very quickly. It's football.
"Not all players have, but I've been in dressing rooms where this has happened. Managers leave and one quickly comes in. It's just about how quickly the squad can deal with the change and buy into the new ideas.
"That's the most important thing. I think we've done that so well. The perfect scenario was going straight to Spain, which we had already planned to do."
Early signs of promise under Jaissle
Newcastle have drawn with Liverpool in the Premier League and beaten West Brom in the Carabao Cup so far this season, with early performances under Jaissle offering room for optimism. Barnes came off the bench to score twice in the 3-2 win over the Baggies, while new signing Amar Dedic created two of Newcastle's three goals on the evening.
The Bosnian international previously worked under Jaissle at RB Salzburg, but nobody expected him to fit in so seamlessly to English football, leaving his team-mates impressed.
"Yeah, no, really good," Barnes added when asked about Dedic's impact. "To be fair to him, he hasn't really had much training with us. So he's come in last week and he's done great at the weekend in a massive game. He didn't look out of place at all.
"And tonight, he showed his quality. I think we're bringing in them quality players and he's worked with the manager before. He knows his ideas, so he's bought into that really quickly."
Competition and a positive outlook
Barnes is relishing the competition with Bazoumana Toure, who scored Newcastle's other goal in Wednesday's win, on the left-wing.
"Yeah, no, of course. You need that competition all over the pitch. I think it's important we push each other on. And that's not just going to be in that position. It's going to be all over the pitch.
"You saw over the weekend, we had different goalscorers, different people assisting, who last year hadn't done so much. And it's great to see everyone come back with this real spring in their step and contribute as we are all going to need to do it this year.
"We've lost players in the summer. We've brought new ones in. And we've got the players here to really go and push on. And I think we need as many people as you can get playing at their best."
