Kieran Trippier and Anthony Elanga of Newcastle United look on after seeing their team concede a third goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Brentford at St James' Park on February 07, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.placeholder image
Kieran Trippier and Anthony Elanga of Newcastle United look on after seeing their team concede a third goal during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Brentford at St James' Park on February 07, 2026 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. | Getty Images
Newcastle United were booed off the pitch as they lost 3-2 to Brentford in the Premier League.
The 35-year-old full-back was the first player signed by Howe as part of his post-PIF takeover revolution on Tyneside, and it’s fair to say the manager is keeping faith with the former England man, despite a big dip in performances of late.
And, unsurprisingly, Trippier has jumped to the defence of his boss, amid growing criticism, which saw the players booed off the pitch at half and full time during and after the 3-2 home defeat to Brentford in the Premier League.
Speaking after the match, Trippier said: “I take full responsibility as a senior player in the dressing room. It's nothing about the manager. We are going through a tough spell - no doubt about it. We need to get our heads down.
“It's my responsibility as a senior player to calm things down.”
Eddie Howe reacts to Newcastle United boos after Brentford defeat
Reacting to those boos, Howe replied: “Yes, obviously not what we want. 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.”
Howe added: “I think if we perform the crowd will back us and they'll be with us every step of the way. I've got no issue with their reaction today, they're reacting to what we deliver. So I don't see that being a problem.
“Of course we have to turn that around with our performances.”
Eddie Howe gives candid assessment after Brentford defeat
Speaking candidly, Howe added: “No, it's not good enough and I think it's been out of character with the performances. I don't think we've been conceding a lot of chances, we've just been conceding a lot of goals. Today would be a similar theme for that. You take the penalty aside and I don't think they've created too much.
“But there's certain moments in the game where we didn't defend anywhere near well enough, individually or collectively. Ultimately from 1-0 up to 2-1 down very quickly, we only have ourselves to blame. I think by accepting that is the only way then to improve.
“It's a difficult moment for us, I don't think there's any denying that. I think today especially, I think you can look back at the last run of games we've had and I think you can actually point to positives in the performance in defeat and go well okay we created a lot of chances there.
“On a different day that could have been very different but today I think we've had to take full accountability. We went 1-0 up at home in a game that for me we should then accelerate through the gears and show our true form and build some confidence and we didn't, we went the other way.
“Yes there's mitigating circumstances, yes we're missing a lot of key players, yes some of our players are having to play well fatigued, but we've got to do better, there's no other way to put it from my viewpoint.”
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