Football is a hard-headed business though, and time waits for no one, not even a club celebrating a once-in-a-generation triumph. Winning the League Cup transformed the mood on Tyneside, but as he looked ahead to the final ten games of the season at [Newcastle’s](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/newcastleunited/) Darsley Park training base this morning, it wasn’t lifting silverware that Eddie Howe described as a “game-changing” moment.
Instead, that was qualifying for the Champions League, something the Magpies did two seasons ago and that they are determined to repeat in the next two months. True, finishing in the top five to secure a Champions League spot would not elicit the same outpouring of euphoria that was evident at the weekend. When it comes to the hard-headed financial reality of life in the modern-day Premier League, though, it would mean much more.
“There’s no doubting the power of Champions League football,” said Howe. “It could be game-changing in terms of revenue and also in terms of what it means and the competition, and then of course the changes that you have to make to be ready for Champions League football.
“That changes everything, as we found last year to our cost to some degree with the extra games, so there's a lot to think about.
“But for us, qualifying for that is going to be very, very difficult. There are, as we know, ten games, there are a lot of teams competing for those places. It's one of the tightest Premier Leagues that we've seen in recent times, very little between the teams competing for those places, so it's going to come down to who is the most consistent.
“Of course, we want that to be us and in those ten games, we are going to have to give everything to get there.”
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While the exact make-up of next season’s Champions League will not be confirmed until the end of the season, UEFA’s current coefficients strongly suggest that England will be one of the two countries to secure five places in the competition. That could even increase to six of Arsenal or Aston Villa were to win this season’s Champions League and finish outside the top five in the league.
Newcastle headed into the current round of midweek fixtures sitting in sixth position, a point behind fifth-placed Manchester City but boasting a game in hand on all five of the teams currently above them in the table.
They are guaranteed a European place of some description next season thanks to their Carabao Cup success, but a Champions League return is their ultimate goal, and to achieve it, Howe accepts his players will have to park their post-Wembley celebrations and refocus. For all that last weekend’s scenes were unforgettable, he is confident they are capable of moving on.
“It has been a case of resetting and looking at our goals again in a different way,” said Howe. “We need to put what happened against Liverpool to the back of our minds and focus on the future.
“We’ve got ten games, ten great opportunities for us to really grab and try to turn our Premier League season into a memorable one in addition to the cup final.
“From a player perspective, I set the tone in that. Consistency from me is hugely important to how we prepare, train, my message and drive - the players will hopefully see that nothing has changed.
“We’ve won something, but ultimately, we still have to improve and grow every day. That would be my message to them. The supporters will understand that this has been one moment in isolation - that journey never stops and now our craving for success is even stronger internally.”
Newcastle’s performance in their Wembley win underlined the quality they possess, but there have also been times this season – most notably when they were deservedly beaten 4-2 at Brentford at December – where their standards have slipped. The great teams are consistent and find a way to win when they are not at their best. For all that they have made great strides this season, Newcastle are not there yet.
“I can’t argue with that,” said Howe. “That is the big question mark against us, and I include myself in that. That is the big question, can we be that team that we were against Liverpool?
“You can’t be there every game, but you can still reach a standard and win the game. That is what we have got to try and do. We have done it, we played West Ham before the final, didn’t play great, but won the game through defensive steel really.
“We have to find ways to win games when we are not at our best. So, hopefully, when your performance is where it needs to be, you still have the quality to win.”