CRAIG HOPE: I’ve rarely seen Howe like this – here’s what it reveals

You would not need more than one hand to count the number of times Eddie Howe has clenched his own and used the media to fire a message back into his Newcastle dressing room.

He did so here, in the fallout of a Wear-Tyne derby defeat that has prompted criticism from within and without.

It was the words from inside that he wanted to confront first, when he met with us on Tuesday morning for a Carabao Cup quarter-final preview that featured just one question on the trophy they are defending. His captain, Bruno Guimaraes, had delivered a passionate and scything takedown of the team’s performance in the moments after full time at the Stadium of Light.

‘I’m very angry, I’m so embarrassed and I’m so frustrated,’ he said. ‘There was no crossing, no passing and no shooting, no nothing. It was a mess, in my opinion. The consistency isn’t there, the mentality isn’t there. We didn’t compete.’

Supporters, just as irritated as the Brazilian, warmed to the response. Howe, though, was less comfortable with some of the wording and messaging behind it. Within 24 hours Guimaraes had issued a follow-up statement on social media, this time calling for unity and guarding against the blame game. By the time Howe faced the press, he had his own words in order.

‘Bruno was 90 per cent right,’ he said, applying some numerical diplomacy. ‘I don’t think we were a mess, but I don’t think the other part of his original comments were wrong. We weren’t a mess, we just didn’t deliver the performance that we wanted to.

‘Bruno is very emotional, that’s part of his success and why he’s such an outstanding player and leader. We have to make sure our messaging is right to the outside world. The second statement (on Monday) he put across is 100 per cent right. That’s what we need, the mindset now is we can’t affect the past, we can only affect the future. We need to do that together.’

You can see why Howe would bristle at the ‘mess’ accusation. It implies tactical chaos and blames the blueprint rather than the builders. Newcastle’s strategy had worked to the point of limiting Sunderland, it unravelled when it came to the individual execution of their forward players.

With that misdiagnosis addressed, Howe moved onto another of Guimaraes’ observations, this time concerning ‘mentality’. What followed was an exploration of the word’s meaning, but also some pointed examples of how his players can show such mental application. Newcastle have conceded two own goals from set-pieces in their last two games – Nick Woltemade’s to decide the derby and Guimaraes himself during a 2-2 draw in Leverkusen.

‘I think that’s a really good question – what does it (mentality) mean?’ said Howe, and he was ready with the answer. ‘Because it’s a very overused phrase, mentality. I hear it a lot, but then when people use it they need to understand what it is.

‘For me, it’s our preparation. For me, it’s making sure when you’ve got a job to do at a set-play and you’re defending a corner that you’ve done the practice, but you also take on the seriousness of your role and responsibility and you deliver it. That for me is mentality. It’s knowing your responsibilities as a team-mate to deliver your best and be as consistent as you can and leave it all on the pitch.

‘Talking off the pitch and in changing rooms for me is important, but it pales into insignificance against your will to prepare and be a really good professional. For me that’s mentality and, if that’s being questioned, then we need to make sure the players are aware of my thoughts.’

Howe was not done there and, moments later, he returned to the theme, questioning the mentality of his players this season.

‘It’s a horrible feeling, because when you go into a game, you want your players to go on the pitch and give absolutely everything they have in their soul and their body,’ he said. ‘For me, that’s the only thing I ask a player to do.

‘There have been a few times this season where I’ve left a game unsure on that, and that’s mentality. Your job is to do your best. We have lost a little bit of that and it’s up to us to try and find a way to get that back.’

It was a strong stance for the manager to take, and maybe it is that Sunday was the moment his patience expired, after a fourth defeat in five away from home in the Premier League. They are the league’s sixth-best team at home but 15th on the road and their away-day discomforts, if persisting, will make a top-five finish and Champions League qualification impossible.

For now, at least, they are back at St James’ Park to face Fulham on Wednesday. It took 25 minutes for a question on that game and the Carabao Cup, but by then Howe was entrenched in batting away what he felt was ‘negativity’ in the room. He was sat in front of a plasma screen inside the media centre, yet it should have been a wicket he was protecting.

Has the team gone backwards? Gone soft? Do you have full belief in your players? Where has the intensity gone? There were some bouncers and some with a devilish break. How do you get rid of the anger and despondency within the fanbase?

For context, Howe’s side had taken 10 points from 12 before the weekend, including a brilliant home win over Manchester City that bore all the hallmarks of them at their best. They are two ties from a return to Wembley. They are just one point from the Champions League knockout rounds. There is also the mitigation of a turbulent summer.

But, on Sunday, they lost to Sunderland. If Howe and his players did not grasp the enormity of the fixture beforehand – a suggestion he fiercely rejected here – then the backlash will leave them in no doubt as to what must happen in March’s return derby. 

There could be close to another 25 games before then, but none will be as big as the need for, and expectation of, revenge.

Howe, though, knows he cannot look that far ahead. He needs results now to recover a league position of 12th that belies the ability of him and his team. Before leaving, he went into bat for his players.

‘One hundred per cent I have full belief in them,’ he said. ‘My support for the group will never waver. I believe we have some outstanding players. I understand all the questions being negative, but there’s still a lot to be positive about and we can’t lose sight of that internally.

‘I understand if you guys can’t, but I think, for us, we have to realise the opportunity we have to get to another semi-final. We are still in all the competitions. We are such a small gap away in the Premier League (four points off fifth). I understand the feeling and the themes, but it is for me to see a way forward.

‘In terms of Sunderland, I’ve watched it twice, forensically. Then I had to move onto Fulham, because that’s the beauty of having so many games, to move on quickly and focus on them.’

What Howe will now realise is that you never really move on with haste from a defeat by Sunderland. That alone should be all the motivation required when March comes around. One game it may be, but the legacy of a derby has a habit of lasting far longer.