**Newcastle United failed to turn up yet again for the Tyne-Wear derby as Sunderland simply wanted it more, as has often been the case when the two sides have met in the Premier League.**
While we understand that the derby is about the biggest games Sunderland are likely to have when the two sides are in the same division, whereas Newcastle have cup semi-finals/finals and [Champions League games](https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2026/03/18/a-brutal-end-to-a-brilliant-champions-league-campaign-barcelona-7-2-newcastle/) to deal with, there’s absolutely no excuse for our team not to put in the same level of passion into these games as the opposition does.
This isn’t specifically an Eddie Howe problem, either has this apathy predates Eddie Howe by many years. But that’s not to say that the Newcastle gaffer is immune from criticism after today’s shambles.
Boos rang out around St James’ Park when the full-time whistle went this afternoon, and, as much as we don’t support booing the players, we can’t say that we disagree with the sentiment.
Neither, it seems, does Eddie Howe himself, who told reporters that he was ‘disappointed’ in his performance this week and looks to shoulder the blame for what was a woefully uninspired performance.
> _“This was very, very painful. But it was most painful for our supporters, and it’s them I think about now. There is no excuse, when you have not performed and have not delivered._
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> _“We have not done our jobs well enough. I’m fully committed, but I’m disappointed in my delivery today and my delivery the last week. The Barcelona game was very tough. Today’s even tougher._
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> _“I understand the reaction (the boos) at the end of the game. My first thought as a leader is to front up and absorb the blame. You can use whatever word you want, I won’t challenge it. The only thing we can do is come back stronger from it._
>
> _“I won’t be deflecting it to players until my last breath. It’s going to be a painful few days for me. We never want to go through a hostile reception from crowd. I understand the criticism.”_
Discussing the game, and where it all went wrong, in more depth, Howe touched on our lack of balance and loss of control, saying:
> _“Our technical delivery was off today. We missed three midfielders who would have given us control. It left us unbalanced. The game became transitional & we made it too much like they wanted it. We lost control in the second half._
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> _“They were two poor goals to concede but that’s not a one-off for us. We have defended poorly since the turn of the year”_
It’s all well and good for Howe coming out and shouldering responsibility, but the fact that he’s bringing the Barcelona game into the mix shows just how much he’s missing the point.
Barcelona has been and gone. Yes, that was a bad night at the office, but we can understand getting battered at the Nou Camp; there are no excuses for that level of performance at St James’ Park in the derby. None. That should have been the focus after the game; fans are fuming that we let our fiercest rivals enjoy themselves in our own backyard. Address that.
Eddie Howe is getting a lot of criticism, and the ‘Howe Out’ brigade is out in force today. While we’re not going to sit here and defend every action and give him a free pass, we do believe that this goes a lot deeper than just Eddie Howe.
A lot of it stems from the sporting director fiasco last summer, the lack of action in January when it was clear to everyone that we needed a lift, and then just the fact that we have a small squad with several injuries and a completely knackered set of players who have played something like 20 games more than Sunderland’s players have.
Nobody is getting a free pass, but it’s not all on Eddie Howe’s shoulders. Although if someone could tell us what he says (or doesn’t) to his players at half-time, we’d very much like to know.