Eddie Howe is going to have to channel his inner Maximus Decimus Meridius to pick his players up after last night’s bruising defeat at the hands of Barcelona.
The Catalan giants turned on the style in the second half of the Champions League Round of 16 second leg tie, turning their 3-2 half-time advantage into a 7-2 demolition.
Newcastle were giving an excellent account of themselves for 45 minutes, but another stoppage time penalty, the second of the tie, spoiled the party as Newcastle simply collapsed with a car crash end to a previously competitive tie.
There’s no time to wallow, though, with another huge game looming large as Sunderland come to St James’ Park on Sunday. It’s the first Tyne-Wear Premier League derby in 10 years, with Newcastle looking to right the wrong from the reverse fixture.
Sunday is our time to put things right after December’s 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light, but we can’t do that if we’re still feeling sorry for ourselves after last night.
Eddie Howe was quick to make that point during his post-match press conference from the Nou Camp, urging us to learn from last night’s defeat and reset quickly, believing the quick turnaround can actually help us to avoid any Barcelona hangover.
“Now, it’s all about Sunderland. It’s not about today.
“It’s about learning from today, evolving and changing if we need to. But it’s about the next game and making sure we’re mentally and physically ready for what’s going to be a huge game for us and the whole city.
“I think that’s quite a good game for us to go straight into because there’s no time for any other thought now. It’s huge.
“There’s no point talking about it though, we’ve just got to play. We’ve got to play like our lives depend on it.
“It’s such a big game for the city, for our supporters, for everyone connected with the club. We know that.
“We knew it before the first game and we know it even more now. We need to deal with this very quickly, and then move on to Sunday.”
Howe wasn’t even being overly dramatic when he asked his players to ‘play like our lives depend on it’. In his case, his grasp on this job and support within the fanbase may well depend on Sunday’s result.
In some sections, the knives were out for Howe after the embarrassment of the second-half performance last night. There are pockets of the fanbase who will quickly jump all over a bad result and use it as a stick to beat Howe with, and last night gave them a bigger, harder stick.
If we lose against Sunderland on Sunday, then those sticks are going to have spikes on them, too.
We don’t think that the board, or even the majority of fans, will turn to the ‘Howe Out’ side, but those cries will get louder, and the fanbase will be divided again.
Given that’s at stake between now and the end of the season – a place in Europe is on the line – we could really do without that, upping the importance of three vital points against the Mackems this weekend.