Newcastle United latest news: Kieran Trippier and Eddie Howe have reacted to their defeat to Brentford in the Premier League.
In the fallout of Newcastle United’s 3-2 defeat to Brentford, two key figures at the club took ‘full responsibility’ for their tenth Premier League defeat of the season.
Much like their defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium in November, Saturday’s defeat against Brentford felt and smelled like a pivotal moment in the club’s season and the trajectory that the next few weeks will take. After that day, exactly 90 days prior to their most recent defeat to the Bees, Newcastle United reset during an international break and won three of their next four Premier League matches.
Three months on, they need to do that again. Although this time, they do not have the luxury of a fortnight off and instead must right their wrongs within 74 hours.
Eddie Howe and Kieran Trippier will be the two driving forces of such a transformation, with the head coach and longest-serving member of the leadership group now at the forefront of driving standards at the club. Trippier, much like he did after that aforementioned defeat in the reverse fixture in London, once again fronted up to the media on Saturday evening, telling Sky Sports: “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.”
Those thoughts were echoed by his head coach who similarly claimed responsibility for Saturday’s defeat: “I’ve got to work better, do more,” United’s head coach said.
The Gazette has launched a new WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone.Simply click this link to join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
“I’ve got to take full responsibility for everything that you see on the pitch and I have to work out solutions. That’s for me to do and of course I have to ask the same of our players.
“I have to ask them to be really honest with themselves, [look at] their best level and judge how they are playing against that now.”
Newcastle United’s test of leaders
Whilst Howe and Trippier’s words should drive the team onwards and to rectify a damaging defeat at the soonest possible opportunity, Newcastle United are now facing a new challenge behind-the-scenes. For 12 years, Jamaal Lascelles was so often the man they turned to in a time of crisis.
He was even the man that stood up to scrutiny in November after that defeat to the Bees, despite being an unused substitute on that afternoon. This time round though, he is not in the building.
Lascelles instead made his debut for Leicester City on Saturday, just mere hours before his former club fell at the hands of Brentford. He may not have had the influence on the pitch as he had enjoyed during his first decade at Newcastle United, but Lascelles was a huge influence in the squad - someone Bruno Guimaraes described as the ‘true captain’ less than a year ago.
Of course, Lascelles’ presence on Saturday would have made little difference to the outcome of the match, but now the Magpies face the challenge of having to deal with that setback and raise their standards once again ahead of a crucial four-successive away games against Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Qarabag and Manchester City.
Newcastle United need their leaders to stand up and be counted.
Continue Reading