Audacious and dogged, Bournemouth's Eddie Howe has made a career out of defying the odds

The way Eddie Howe made a career in professional football as a player and as a manager has been dependent on the manner he’s gone about his business.

Often described as obsessive, head-driven and ambitious, his inspiration to live by these qualities comes from the delight he takes in defying the odds.

As a player, the 'get up and get on with it' mentality was very much a part of his psyche. The David v Goliath notion seems to have been the drive which motivated him, almost as if the backs-against-the-wall situations were the ones he revelled in and enjoyed.

For operating as a defender in the lower levels of English football was not an envied day job. But for Howe - even at only 5 foot 11 - it was something he endured and battled through with determination.

“I was 100 per cent all effort. I was limited in terms of my physical attributes; I was 5’11, which meant that I was small for a centre half, so that was difficult for me,” Howe confessed in a recent interview with Guillem Balague for the Inside Football podcast. “I would have probably suited playing at a higher level than a lower level. Playing against the target men of the lower leagues was challenging and I really survived on attitude and endeavour.

“I always felt that I was fighting against the tide to make a career, I felt I had to work harder than everyone else. But once you realise that, it becomes your habit and your life and then you have to maximise every day and work hard to make a career in the sport you love.”

Despite suffering a series of injuries which forced Howe to cut his career short, he managed to make 254 appearances for the Cherries. He never expected nor planned his career would suddenly culminate the way it did, but Howe was a natural born coach who knew the game inside out.

It wasn’t the most orthodox of processes, but after being asked to scout one game and being added to Kevin Bond’s coaching staff Howe eventually got his big gig as the leading man.

“I had no plan in place for when my career ended,” he told Balague during a recent podcast with TalkSport. “I was still deluded and tried to cake of my body day to day so I could play. When I retired I didn’t know what I was going to do but Kevin Bond said to me they had no one to go scout our opponents for the next game so he asked me to go and scout the team we were playing next and I did.

“I filed my report and sent it in. The next game we won and that was when he turned around to me and said he wanted me as part of his coaching staff.”

In the 2008-09 Coca-Cola League 2 season, Bournemouth started with a 17-point deduction after being declared insolvent for the second time in as many years after failing to exit administration.

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Kevin Bond left after just four games and his replacement, Jimmy Quinn, was relieved of his duties in January with 23 games remaining. With Bournemouth seven points from safety the then 31-year-old Howe was thrust into the position on a caretaker basis. It was a return to the backs-against-the-wall situation he craved.

Despite Howe defying the odds in successfully steering Bournemouth clear of the drop, he recalls feeling exposed as a latecomer to the managerial scene.

“I remember stepping out and taking my position in the dugout and thinking what am I doing here, especially so early on in my coaching career. It was a bizarre feeling. I remember before the game thinking what am I doing here, how did I end up in this position so soon in my coaching career?

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“For me to be thrusted into the manager’s job where the camera’s in your face and your standing there it was a weird moment, very proud moment though. Managing this football club was never something I imagined as a kid, although at the time I didn’t feel ready to take the job.”

The attitude which was installed in him as a player defines him now and has developed into one of his most conspicuous managerial assets. Time and time again his side and ambitions were scoffed at but, although the going has been particularly tough this season, the Cherries continue to rub shoulders with the Premier League elite.

His audacity and refusal to roll over in the face of adversity continue to earn him accolades and praise in the footballing world. He believes keeping a keen eye on his mother was key to fuelling these characteristics. “I took early learning’s from her without ever really knowing” he said.

“She was a single mother with five kids so that in itself is a huge task for one person to take on. Having five kids of different ages and then also doing that with limited funds and finance is hard. She had to hold down two or three jobs while taking care of the kids so that was incredible for one person to do. Watching her from afar definitely built my character.”

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But Howe admits that life could have been very different for him when he was faced with a major sporting dilemma at the age of 13: football or cricket?

“There was a moment where I had to choose between football and cricket,” he revealed. “I got called up by Dorset County, they said to me right we want you to play and we want you to fulfil these fixtures and I looked down the list and it was an incredible amount of cricket in the year and it said tick the games you’re available for. I thought, well I can’t play any games in the football season so that left about three months.

“I decided just to tick the other ones and that was me basically saying there and then football is my priority. I could have probably been a better cricketer than I was footballer but my love for football was stronger than cricket."

Even from a young age he backed his own decisions and not much has changed since. Howe continues to defy the odds, continues to show faith in English players and continues to push onwards with his ‘Little Bournemouth’ - no matter how tough the challenges he faces.