Last night there was a noticeable tone shift from Eddie Howe as Newcastle United boss turns introspective
Newcastle United scored and then conceded moments later twice last night as Brentford got their first win at St James' Park in over 90 years.
Newcastle's inability to hold a lead continues to be a huge problem for the Magpies this season. It has been the story of the entire season, our allergy to keeping a lead.
What's worse is that without set pieces, we never even look like scoring. Last night, the trend was to pick up the ball and run headfirst into a group of Brentford players and lose the ball.
Nick Woltemade had a brilliant little jink to create space on the edge of the area, and instead of unleashing a shot, he took a few more touches and ran into three defenders. What's the point?
Eddie Howe turned the focus on himself in his post-match press conference
I didn't have the energy last night to listen to Eddie Howe's politician's answers and watch him trying to put a positive spin on things, but it turns out, even Howe has a breaking point.
For what feels like the first time ever, Howe was honest, saying that they simply weren't good enough and he shouldered a lot of the blame. (h/t Newcastle World)
“Yes, obviously not what we want (being booed off the pitch). It is hard, but I don't blame the supporters for expressing their feelings.
“I think we've created that ourselves to a point with a run of games where we haven't played as well as we can. We've defended poorly and we've got punished and there's no other thing to do than accept responsibility for it.
“I think there's a harsh reality for me. I think I've got to think long and hard about, not my efforts, I can't question that myself, but I think I've got to work better, I've got to do more. I've got to take full responsibility for everything you see on the pitch and I've got to work out solutions.
“I think that's for me to do and then of course I have to ask the same from the players. I have to ask them to be really honest with themselves and look at their best level and judge how they're playing against that now in this current moment.
“I don't think there's too many that can say that they're playing towards their best. so I think that then gives us growth to improve.”
He said the right words; now it's time for the right actions
It's refreshing to see Howe taking things this hard, but now it's time for action and finding a way to put things right. And to give him credit, he's done it before.
I said last night that we'd happily just write this season off and rebuild over the summer with a view to going again next season without European football, and honestly, I still think that's the best course of action right now.
It's detrimental to the club's progress, no doubt, and it really makes a mockery of David Hopkinson's five-year plan, but surely even he watched that last night and thought to himself, "I should have gone with Jim White's 10-year idea."
