Lee Ryder's 4-2 Brentford review
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe said he would wait until Monday before sharing an intense showdown with his players after the defeat at Brentford.
During a difficult press conference for Howe, he vowed to find the answers at the training ground but is believed to have not laid into the team. After seeing his side manage just one shot on target after the break, the Magpies were no threat even after £151million worth of changes.
Speaking at full time, Howe told Chronicle Live: "In my experience you can make a lot of mistakes when you speak to players after a game. You can say a lot of things you regret, on your own emotion.
"So I try to keep my conversations very short. Certainly when I reflect they will be very long. Because we have to give the information where we think we went wrong and we have to put it right."
William Oslua's wait goes on
Like the supporters in the main stand, striker William Osula could only watch on and shiver as the game passed by at the Gtech Stadium.
After bringing on the likes of Anthony Gordon, Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron, Howe still had one attacking throw of the dice in Osula but did not use it. Instead he turned to right-back Kieran Trippier and changed his full-backs with seven minutes left, instead of overloading the box with forwards.
Trippier's introduction meant that Lewis Hall came off and Tino Livramento changed position. Osula's game-time remains at just 10 minutes in the Premier League this season.
On days like this, he must wonder why he swapped first-team football to sit on a freezing cold bench. But even at the full-time whistle he still found a moment to manage a smile when shaking hands with Brentford players.
No disguising Newcastle's poor record
Eddie Howe has vowed to get it right at Newcastle and given his previous record he deserves the time to do that. But no wins in four Premier League matches and a slump into the bottom half is its own sorry tale.
That's also eight goals conceded in a week now. The fact Newcastle are still in both cups gives plenty of hope for success moving forward but if ever a manager needed a victory, it's Eddie right now.
Against Leicester with new boss Ruud van Nistelrooy in place and assistant Ben Dawson having intelligence on the current squad, there could be easier games up next.