Eddie Howe has expressed his displeasure at the rule change that allowed Manchester City’s £62.5m signing Antoine Semenyo to play against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup semi-final. The 26-year-old Ghanaian international, who joined City from Bournemouth last week, will be eligible to play against the Magpies in Tuesday night’s first leg at St James’ Park despite already coming on as a substitute in Bournemouth’s 2-0 second round defeat to Brentford in August.
Semenyo, who scored on his debut in Saturday’s 10-1 win over Exeter in the FA Cup, can now score under new EFL Rule 6.4, which allows players to represent up to two clubs in the competition within a season. When asked about the rule change, Newcastle head coach Howe replied with a wry smile: “Well, it’s good to know that the rules have changed since we found out we signed him.”
“I have to say this is one rule change that I probably can’t support at this point.
“But Antoine had a great season. I’m a big fan of his and he scored on his debut. Fair play to him. I think Man City have signed a very, very good player.”
Regardless of which team Pep Guardiola plays on Tyneside, Howe is aware of the difficulty of Newcastle retaining the trophy they won last season against Liverpool and ending their 70-year wait for a domestic silver medal.
But he insists he cannot afford to feel inferior when playing against a Spanish coach and a star-studded team.
Guardiola’s illustrious career as a manager began at Barcelona, before moving on to Bayern Munich before landing at the Etihad Stadium. Howe, on the other hand, was without full-back Tino Libramento due to tests for a hamstring injury, but he honed his skills at Bournemouth in League Two and ultimately led the club to the Premier League with an outstanding performance.
Asked if he had ever stopped to reflect on his remarkable trajectory, Howe, who has already outscored both Guardiola and Jose Mourinho this season, admitted: “Rarely, to be honest.”
“Sometimes someone sends me something that reminds them of me, and to be honest, it feels like it was a long time ago where we started.
“But as I’ve said many times, I wouldn’t change it at all. The fundamentals and education we received in the lower leagues was truly incredible and going through the leagues gave us a unique insight into the football pyramid.”
“We really learned the hard way in terms of our successes and failures, and ultimately I think we got to where we are through hard work and dedication.
“But you can’t see yourself as inferior, you can’t think about your journey, you just have to think about the here and now, you have to think about winning.
“It’s just something we strive for every day and try to get things going in the right direction. But I think our education was invaluable to us.”
