Newcastle United fans have had three weeks to try to get over the pain of the last two games and to rediscover their voice for the next game on Sunday.
The Magpies are at Selhurst Park on Sunday to take on Crystal Palace in the Sky Sports televised game. Kick-off is at 2pm.
Three weeks between games feels like an eternity after playing every three or four days all season, but the rest will hopefully have done Eddie Howe and the team the world of good.
The time off has certainly brought a bit of life back to the pre-match press conferences. Whereas before it felt like the same points were being hit in every one, this time there was plenty to get stuck into on transfers, injuries and his future.
After the crushing defeat at Barcelona and then the embarrassing loss to Sunderland, Eddie Howe was asked if he had a message to the fans who had perhaps lost a bit of faith since those games.
The gaffer didn’t shy away from the fact that results weren’t good enough, and still had plenty of praise for the supporters, who he has urged to get behind the team in the final weeks of 2025/26.
“I’d always say to any supporter that genuinely supports the team, just back the players when they’re playing. Throw your full weight and support behind them because it’s obviously a very tough sport. We’re at the elite level and I think the players need to feel that love and support to be at their best.
“I think the supporters have been magnificent in that respect for us all season. I think they’ve seen the challenges that we’ve faced. I think the majority have understood just the last run of games we had, the level of opposition, the frequency of games; it was tough for the players at the end of that spell.
“Yes, we’ve made mistakes. Yes, we haven’t been at our best consistently, and we accept that. But I think in the main, the supporters have been really, really good with us.
“But of course, that’s not unconditional. We know that they’re not going to blindly support us if we’re not performing consistently, so now there’s a big responsibility in the next seven games to up our level.”
The couple of thousand Geordies heading to the capital will no doubt be in fine voice on Sunday, as our away contingent usually are, so the real test of where the fanbase is right now will come when Bournemouth come to St James’ Park next week.
In truth, a lot of that crowd’s reaction will be fed by how the lads fare on Sunday against Palace. Another poor performance could just reignite the flames from the derby.
Crystal Palace will be more than up for it on Sunday after their big win over Fiorentina on Thursday night, so the lads are really going to have to work for it.