This morning Eddie Howe spoke to the media ahead of the massive game against Tottenham on Sunday, but was first asked about how the players reacted after Saturday’s crushing defeat to Aston Villa.
It’s almost a week since Newcastle United were humbled by Aston Villa and for fans it’s still stings. Thankfully, according to Eddie Howe, the players have moved on from it quickly.
Speaking to the gathered media this morning, Howe hailed the attitude of his players saying (via The Chronicle): “Training has been very good. The attitude of the players has been very good. They have refocused. There’s been no fallout from the game, no negative energy. It’s all been on the next game and making sure we respond in the right way.”
Eddie Howe says Saturday’s performance was ‘uncharacteristic’
Howe went into more detail regarding the defeat; the NUFC Twitter account posted the following quote: “It was an uncharacteristic performance from us. We’ve been so consistent home and away and we’ve not always won the games but we’ve had certain hallmarks within the performance and it was probably the first time that we didn’t deliver those. It was maybe a good time to regroup and refocus our energies on our performance with so few games to go.”
It seems that Howe is of the opinion shared by many fans that Saturday’s game was probably the worst performance we’ve seen from the side since Eddie Howe took over. Definitely this season, anyway.
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Newcastle can open up a nice gap in the top four on Sunday
The games don’t get any easier or less important either with Tottenham coming to town on Sunday. Spurs are gunning for our league position and will be desperate to close the gap between the two sides. Newcastle will still have a game in hand over the London club regardless of the result, however that game is another tricky fixture against Brighton.
A win would certainly provide some breathing space in our race for the Champions League, although a late charge from Brighton or Liverpool could still threaten Newcastle’s hopes.
The positive is that our fate is in our own hands and three points on Sunday will be a huge step towards Champions League destiny. Hopefully that attitude in training that’s made Eddie Howe so happy translates into an equally pleasing on-pitch performance.