26 February 2024 , 10:36
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Eddie Howe has fired a warning to his ailing Newcastle players - and ordered them to toughen up.
Newcastle have gone soft on a run of 23 goals conceded in the last eight league games, and a dreadful 4-1 reverse to Arsenal on Saturday. The Geordies have plunged to ninth in the league and face a must win FA Cup fifth round tie at Blackburn on Tuesday night, with anything but progress to the last eight unthinkable.
Howe today blasted that “every aspect of our game was off” in a brutal assessment of the surrender at the Emirates. The United head coach admitted the season has been “very challenging” and says he wants to harness the “emotion” of any negativity.
Asked if everyone was playing for their futures, Howe said: “I can’t disagree with that sentiment. There have been performances where we’ve not been at our best and you can understand - we were disjointed, had players out of position, no substitutes, relying on 11 players continually. This game (against Arsenal) was different. We just did not perform and we have to take responsibility for that.”
Asked if he was “frustrated or angered” at the weekend, he replied: “All of those things mixed into one. I don’t tend to worry so much. I always need to find solutions to problems. So worry isn’t necessarily the emotion but lots of other negative emotions that you feel because that wasn’t the best representation of us.
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"The players were hurting. They are really good characters. They want to do well, they want to please. They will be wounded at the moment. That is why it is really good we have another game coming round really quickly.”
Last season the Toon narked and overpowered their way to fourth place and were praised for their “dark arts” and ability to upset opponents - as opposed to their weekend roll-over. Howe added: “We’ve lost a bit of our experience and the game-management has not been as good.
"We don't want to be easy to play against. We want to be very difficult to play against. We didn't execute what we wanted to do against Arsenal well enough. That's clear. I take responsibility for that."
Howe’s side have won just 11 points in their last 12 games, relegation form for a third of the season, while hampered by big injury problems. Joe Willock is vying for a first start after injury and Alex Isak will play at Ewood Park.
Howe admits the Newcastle players are hurting amid their current bad run (Iain Buist/Newcastle Chronicle)Howe says the FA Cup was the “be all and end all” of the season when he was a player, and is now a “huge opportunity” to get to Wembley. He added: “We are still in the throes of deciding where this season ends up. Nothing is decided for or against us.
"I definitely want to squash that feeling that we are feeling sorry for ourselves because that has negative connotations. We need the players to be excited and ambitious, thinking brightly about the future.
"I always have a positive outlook. I’ve been in football long enough that it changes very quickly both for and against. You have to commit to everything you do, be at the best you can every day and hopefully if you do, good things are around the corner. This season can still be very special for us but we have to make it happen.”
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