Newcastle United's English head coach Eddie Howe shouts instructions to the players
Eddie Howe will remind his players that they put in one of their best performances of 2024 just one game ago before they face Leicester City at St James' Park.
The pulsating 3-3 draw saw Newcastle lead the game twice and then scramble back to earn a point thanks to a last minute equaliser through Fabian Schar. That game ended with United players racing forward in stoppage time in search of what would have been a remarkable winner.
Against Brentford, Newcastle served up a mixed first half and went in at 2-2 at the break before a second half surrender handed the Bees three points in a 4-2 final scoreline. But Howe is wary of the fact his team have hardly sunk without a trace this season and their last win against Nottingham Forest, before the November international break, had Howe's team in eighth place.
Howe told Chronicle Live: "The modern-day game is based on the last result or the last couple of results. We are sort of aware of that. Only in the last couple of games we have seen it. The Liverpool game was a brilliant example of what we can be.
"Yes, we didn't win the game, but our first half performance was stand out, a brilliant performance. So that was only one game ago! So close. But the frustration of us is we showed that version of ourselves that day and then the version of ourselves against Brentford.
"We are looking for the best version of ourselves all the time, consistently. The players want the same thing and it's up to us to deliver it."
The truth is, Newcastle aren't a team in need of a vintage performance this weekend against the Foxes. A solitary goal victory of scrappy display will suffice to get the team back to winning ways.
Saturday's clash against Leicester has spats of Howe's first season when he went four games without a win before his maiden victory as boss before netting a decisive victory against Burnley in November 2022. His next win took five games, but a 1-0 victory over Leeds at Elland Road lifted his team away from danger and set the club on course for top-flight survival after Jonjo Shelvey's free-kick.
When reminded about those lower-key but ultimately important career wins as a gaffer, Howe admitted he'd gladly take another scrappy one!
Howe said: "If it means we win this game and go on a winning run, and we look on it in hindsight as a turning point then yeah absolutely. The difficulty in those moments is you don't know.
"We didn't know at Leeds that was going to be a turning point, but I felt the Burnley game was a big moment because we just needed to win. How ever we did it we just needed to win.
"The Leeds game we now look back at it and know that was a massive win for us. Because it just gave us belief again. We were just about to go to Saudi Arabia and there was togetherness in the group. We felt: 'We are going to do this (stay up)'.
"Now we are in a different moment in a different season. Different feelings. But we have a big week to come. We are under no illusions, this game (Leicester) and the Brentford game at home, they are massive moments for us. They can elevate us and change our season positively for us. So yeah if that means a turning point we will take anything that comes."