Eddie Howe asked if he would emulate Kevin Keegan's 2008 decision to quit after transfer trouble

Eddie Howe was asked if he would emulate Kevin Keegan by ever walking away from his post after recruitment tensions in the boardroom.

Keegan infamously quit his job in 2008 after transfer chief Dennis Wise pushed players on to him like Nacho Gonzalez and Xisco with the former manager's influence on signings diluted. Howe has spoken on a different dynamic and "different way of working" since sporting director Paul Mitchell was installed.

Speaking at his Press conference, Howe was asked by reporters if he would ever follow in the footsteps of KK by walking away after political trouble. But Howe said: "I think it is difficult, and this is not a loaded answer, to give any reassurance on anything in football.

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"But I absolutely love being Newcastle manager. I am very proud to do it. No part of me is thinking anything other than trying to beat Tottenham and looking hopefully a long reign here."

For all that, it has been a turbulent window for Howe with many of his key stars linked with the exit door and players sold like Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh for financial reasons rather than football reasons.

Asked if he'd had any "over my dead body" transfer calls, such as the interest in Anthony Gordon from Liverpool or Chelsea's brief enquiry on Alexander Isak, Howe told Chronicle Live: "I don't think I can like that. It is not about my want in times like that.

"Especially in June. It is about what the club needs. We could be sitting here with a huge points deduction and I am sure people would be saying: 'Why didn't they sell players?'

"You have to choose which way you want to go with it. For us we could not go down that route and selling players was a necessity. It was very difficult to do."