JASON TINDALL has opened up on his title as the Premier League’s “most irritating man”.
Tindall, 47, was in the dugout alongside Eddie Howe as Newcastle won their first major domestic trophy in the Carabao Cup for 70 years against Liverpool.
Jason Tindall has addressed his title as one of football’s biggest wind-up merchants[/caption]
Tindall has been alongside Newcastle boss Eddie Howe for 17 years[/caption]
He has a brash attitude which means many rival fans do not like him[/caption]
Howe’s No.2 has been a loyal companion to the ex-Bournemouth manager for 17 years, a quality many bemoan has been lost in modern football.
They were thrown into management together when Bournemouth faced relegation from League Two, “because there was nobody else who would do it”.
The pair were nothing more than team-mates at Bournemouth, with neither having the same friendship circle during their playing days at the Cherries.
Yet Tindall says they have worked together every day sharing the same office from 8am to 6pm, meaning, in Tindall’s words, he has “spent more time with Eddie than anyone else in my life,” including their wives.
However, there are few assistant managers in the country, maybe even in world football, who seem to get under the skin of rival supporters more than Tindall.
He has an unapologetically brash and confrontational attitude when on the touchline, earning him the nickname, “Mad Dog”.
It often ends up with him being highlighted whenever something happens pitchside, whether he was the original centre of attention or not.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Tindall has revealed he actually loves his role as one of football’s best wind-up merchants.
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He said: “I don’t exactly know what that Mad Dog thing is or why it came about. It’s probably to do with the way I am on the sidelines.
“I’m very, very passionate, I’ll do anything to win and that’s probably a good thing. Eddie isn’t very emotional on the touchline and I think it is important that I am the way I am.
“If I wasn’t, that is something he would probably have to be and there is so much other stuff that is important on a match day that he needs to focus on. I take that side of things away.
“When he was younger Eddie used to get much more involved in those arguments, but it has happened naturally, it’s me who does it.
“I very rarely think I’ve crossed the line. I will vent my frustration if I’m not happy with certain things. I don’t think I’m disrespectful.
“Obviously, the opposition want to win too and sometimes they will say things that I don’t agree with. I will let that be known. If I’m there to be that person to have an argument, that is what I’m going to do.”
Tindall is the coach responsible for the Magpies’ defensive shape, training and designing set pieces this season.
Only six teams — Liverpool, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Everton — have conceded fewer goals than Newcastle in the league.
Asked about his perception outside of the Newcastle faithful where he is not the most liked person, Tindall is actually more than happy to “upset” people, declaring: “I do not give a s*** what people think.”
He said: “It’s not my intention to attract attention if that makes sense.
“People say I’ve got too high a profile for an assistant manager, how that has come about, but again, I don’t take any notice of it or think I’m going to do this to gain more attention.
“The outside world can say what they say, but it’s just me. I just go about my business.
“This isn’t new and Ed will say the same, the way I am at Newcastle is exactly the same as I was at Bournemouth.
“It’s part of my character, I don’t care what people think [including opposition managers].
“I know who I am, the job I do and the influence I have over a lot of things. And the only thing I care about is doing my job the best I can for Newcastle United.
“I don’t care if I’m upsetting people along the way. People will probably judge the way I look, what I wear and how I behave. None of this is new to me.
The pair were thrown in together to manage Bournemouth but are not mates[/caption]
“The reality is I do not give a s*** what people think and what people say because I’m confident in my own skin, I’m confident in what I do.
“If you don’t know me, what you think doesn’t matter in the slightest.”
On his relationship with Howe, Tindall added: “We are different personalities, completely different characters.
“He’s an introvert, I’m the extrovert, that’s obvious, but we have an excellent working relationship. We are totally honest with each other.
“We have different opinions, we disagree, but I will always respect that he has the final say.
“Whatever arguments we have, it stays behind closed doors and when we step out of the office, we speak as one. I will always back his decision. That’s important.
“That is the loyalty I have to him and have had for many, many years. He trusts me, we trust each other implicitly. I’m incredibly loyal to Eddie, he gets the best out of me and I hope I bring the best out of him.
“We see football the same way, we want to play the same way. We instinctively know what the other person wants, what they are thinking. Our principles are the same.
“As a football brain we think the same. We know what a top manager Eddie is, but there is a lot of pressure on him, the media, the expectations, the football decisions, I’m here to support him.
“You need people around you that you can trust, people you can lean on and we have that relationship.
“If he’s having a bad day, and look, he’s got a lot better at dealing with those the more experienced he has become, but it’s my job to lift him when it is needed.
“It’s my job to take some of that pressure away.”
Indeed, Tindall admits he and Howe don’t “see each other as friends”, but that they need each other to succeed.
He describes the relationship as a “good marriage”, supporting one another but saying socialising together afterwards would be “too much”.
Tindall was given the reins for management once, in 2020 when Howe stepped down as Bournemouth were relegated from the Premier League.
But he lasted only one season and has no intention of stepping back into the main seat in the dugout, instead being happy to be Howe’s No.2 since they were reunited at St. James’ Park three years ago.
Tindall says the emotion of Newcastle make them “the perfect football club for us,” explaining that he and Howe wanted to bring back the essence of Kevin Keegan‘s “entertainers” of the 1990s.
On winning the cup and looking to the future, Tindall added: “Winning the [Carabao] cup final, it meant more to me to give the city what it always wanted than for me as a personal achievement.
“It’s a city that does that to you. It has brought something out of me, it has tapped into my personality because Ed and I have that same passion. It is almost life and death here and that is how we see the game too.
He continued: “When you win one, you want more. The great teams go again, that is what separates them from the good ones.
“We want to build a great team here. You know after we won at Wembley, it was a very emotional moment for us both.
“To have started at the bottom with Bournemouth, to go through the leagues together and to have finally won a trophy, I think we both appreciated how special that was and how much we had achieved together.
“I wouldn’t want to have done it any other way or with anyone else than Ed. We have been on a remarkable journey together that we don’t want to stop.”
But Tindall is happy to be Howe’s No2, describing their relationship as ‘like a married couple’[/caption]
Tindall now wants to help Newcastle win even more trophies after ending the club’s 70 year domestic trophy drought[/caption]