Inside Eddie Howe’s press conference ahead of the huge Tyne-Wear derby between Newcastle United and Sunderland
Eddie Howe felt the pain of Newcastle’s defeat to Sunderland in December(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
If Eddie Howe didn’t grasp the enormity of Newcastle United’s rivalry with Sunderland, December’s 1-0 defeat to the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light would have opened his eyes.
The Newcastle boss had to field difficult questions in the wake of that loss on Wearside and his captain, Bruno Guimaraes, described their performances as a ‘mess’.
The pre-match press conference for the Magpies’ Carabao Cup quarter-final against Fulham lasted 35 minutes and barring one question about the match, it turned into a post-mortem of what went wrong.
Howe bristled at some of the line of questioning that day and had to navigate one of the toughest periods of his four-and-a-half years at the club.
If he was perhaps taken aback by the questions that day, he seemed much more prepared today and it was evident the pain of that defeat still weighed heavy on the United boss.
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“Yeah, I’d agree with that. I think we did in that game, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,” Howe said when asked if he felt Newcastle’s performance that day let down the club’s fans.
“We didn’t reach the standards and level of performance that we would pride ourselves on. And the main thing, you just heard me say it many, many times over the years, is effort, commitment. You know, winning our individual duels, winning the battle on the pitch.
“You can do all those things and still lose, but you leave with a feeling that we left it all out on the pitch. And nine times out of ten this season, albeit so many games, I feel the players have delivered that.
“That was one of a collection of small games, I think, this year where we’ve been disappointed with ourselves. And then it’s a process you go through to sort of mourn that loss and that performance and then analyse it and come back stronger. And that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
Newcastle changed their plan from the previous derby in December, when they opted not to hold the usual pre-match Press conference following the Champions League game in Leverkusen.
And while they had the Friday off following their trip to Germany, the players trained on Friday and again on Saturday following the Barcelona defeat.
Howe described the fallout from the defeat as ‘long and painful’ and, for obvious reasons, it is something he is desperate to avoid this time around.
Newcastle have seven more Premier League games to negotiate before the end of the season after Sunday’s game as they look to attack the end of season run-in to ensure they qualify for Europe – no matter the competition – next season.
And Howe was keen to stress the importance of heading into that off the back of a positive result, particularly in the aftermath of Wednesday’s capitulation in Barcelona.
“I don’t think it did change my view of the fixture. The fallout of it was long and painful. It certainly did not help us,” Howe said.
“I don’t think I was overly surprised because of the way we performed. The way we performed wasn’t good, it wasn’t a great spectacle of us and I don’t think we were anywhere near a normal rhythm. It was a moment of the season where we were struggling a little bit for our attacking game.
“But we try to use that in every experience to try and help us. We don’t want that feeling again and we need to make sure our preparation is as good as it can be to help the players.
“There is an extra weight with the fixture in the sense of, you know if you don’t perform, there will be a large and painful baggage that goes with you. We don’t want that. It affects future performances an affects the emotion and feeling of the whole city.
“We want all the positives of the game that can carry us on a new run and a new wave of optimism. So you know you’re going into the game on a knife-edge. In some respects, that can bring out the best in your players. It’s all the positive emotions we want, because it could be a turning point in our season very much for the better.”
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Put simply, Newcastle cannot afford for a hangover to take hold over the three weeks between the Sunderland game and April’s trip to Crystal Palace.
But that is a message Howe isn’t going to drum into his players and while he used his press conference to front up to the disappointment of their midweek Champions League exit and the manner of their last loss to Sunderland, he insists he has to take a more positive approach.
“I think they did know the enormity of the game – but for whatever reason, we didn’t perform to our normal level,”
“And no excuses on that, we have to take accountability on that. I am not sure that drumming in a message is positive or the right thing to do.
“I’d much prefer to go with a positive message because we need to inspire the players not put fear into them. It is a very delicate balance with teams and professional athletes. What do you want them to think going into a game?
“We certainly don’t want them to think: ‘We can’t lose’. You want them thinking they need to play at their best level and execute my best game, all those positive emotions that is what you are trying to flood into the players.
“The positive of this game could be huge. Not just the feeling around the city but the feeling about ourselves. If we can win three PL games in a row, which we haven’t been able to do consistently, if we can go on that run of wins that we have been on every year I’ve been here and which has helped us so much in the Premier League, we’ve got an opportunity.
“I want to be positive, I want the players to feel that this could be a turning point. With such few games to go, we could close the gap (on European places) and who knows where that can take us.”