Eddie Howe accepts the blame for a "very painful" Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland but says he won't be walking away from Newcastle United any time soon. The Magpies suffered a second defeat of the season to their bitter rivals after Brian Brobbey's 90th-minute winner at St James' Park. Newcastle had taken the lead through Anthony Gordon but his opener was cancelled out by Chemsdine Talbi on the hour mark before Brobbey struck in stoppage time.
It completes a miserable few days for the north east club, who were hammered 7-2 by Barcelona in midweek to exit the Champions League. Howe admitted he "didn't like" the performance of his players in the second half against Sunderland but took responsibility for their failings. Newcastle have now played 51 matches this season - 18 games more than third-placed Manchester United who the Magpies beat at the start of the month. But the 48-year-old refused to use fatigue as an excuse, and accepted the loud boos he and his team were subjected to at full-time.
He said: "Very painful, painful for supporters. They're the ones I'm thinking of. Very little to use as an excuse. We expect to be criticised so I understand the reaction at the end. I absorb the blame - I won't be deflecting it to players until my last breath. It's going to be a painful few days for me.
"It's not a head loss. Our technical delivery was off today. We missed our midfielders, so it left us unbalanced. We made the game too much like they wanted it. We never want to go through a hostile reception from crowd. I understand the criticism."
But Howe, now in his fifth season in charge, insists he won't be walking away from Newcastle. He added: "I'm fully committed to the job. I'm disappointed with my delivery today and this week. Today was even tougher than Barcelona."
Asked by Sky Sports if his players were suffering from playing too many games, Howe replied: "I'm reluctant to use that as an excuse. Logic would tell you yes, but we still have to do better.
"We can't use that as an excuse because then you'll never run from them - there's always an excuse to find. We have to really look at ourselves and make sure we learn from all the mistakes we've made. And we've made a few today.
"It's happened to us before, this isn't a one-off. Yes, in the challenging run we've had, there's been mitigating circumstances, but we've still got to find a way to win that game."
Club legend Alan Shearer ripped into the team on social media. The Premier League's all-time top goalscorer wrote: "A pathetic, weak, lazy, limp second half from Newcastle again #NEWSUN."
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher also felt that Newcastle were overpowered in the second half. He reacted: "Newcastle just cannot beat Sunderland, what a moment for them, they could not have dreamed about this in the last 10 years and do the double over their fierce rivals, their fans will remember this for some time.
"It was coming in the second half, Newcastle looked absolutely shattered and Sunderland deserved this in the second half. Newcastle could not match them physically in the second half and it was only right that Brobbey got the winning goal."