Chemsdine Tabli and Brian Brobbey were the heroes on derby day as Eddie Howe was quizzed on his team's mentality
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe(Image: Getty Images)
View Image
Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe insisted that he and his players understood the enormity of the Tyne-Wear derby despite a spluttering last-minute defeat.
For the second time this season, Newcastle were outfought by a Sunderland team who looked like they grasped the meaning of the occasion a lot better than those in black and white. The truth is, Newcastle's second-half performance did not merit a victory, but to lose the lead in such meek fashion was unforgivable and once again this Toon team don't seem to have much about them when it comes to game management.
There has to be a time in a game that isn't going your way that you accept a point is a decent result. But again Newcastle conceded in the last minute.
Was it acceptable? Here's what Howe told Chronicle Live: "Whenever you concede goals, it is unacceptable. I don't think from my side, nobody means to make a mistake or miss a tackle.
"Nobody means to not defend well in that moment - the lads know the size of the game. They know what's at stake, so they are trying their best, I can assure everyone of that.
"They have not got things right with those goals. They were two really poor goals to concede both in the last actions and the bits before.
"That has not been a one-off for us. We have defended poorly for a long period of time.
"Certainly since the turn of the year and we are well aware of that. All we can do, as I said earlier is return for the first time to the training pitch to try to rectify some of the errors."
Chronicle Live asked whether there was an element of head loss from his players. They'd looked up for the fight in the first half after going 1-0 up but the game slipped away too easily.
When asked about head loss, Howe said: "No. I thought our technical delivery was off today. I thought we missed our technical midfielders who give us our control and technical delivery that Bruno, Sandro and Lewis Miley can bring.
"We missed all three. It left us unbalanced. The main consequence of not having technical ability was that we lost the control we had in the first half.
"Then the game became transitional, we looked fatigued and we became even more tired and we made more mistakes.
"My first point is the technical ability, we made the game too much like they wanted it, and that didn't help us."
Howe was left to defend his players and insist that the players understood the derby going into the match.
He said: "I can only speak from my side, but since I’ve been here, we certainly understand. There’s no issue with that in terms of the size and importance of the fixture, and the preparation for the fixture.
"I can assure you that was all taken as seriously as any game we’ve had this season.
"We pride ourselves on doing that. We understand we haven’t delivered in the two games. I take full accountability for that and absorb all the criticism."
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Content Image
Content Image