During yet another international break, we were given a rare opportunity to hear from Eddie Howe last night, as he spoke from the Newcastle United Foundation Awards Dinner.
Speaking to Matthew Raisbeck at BBC Newcastle, the boss was asked about our reaction to the 3-1 defeat to Brentford and the behind-the-scenes work that’s gone on to right the wrongs of our poor start to the Premier League season, particularly away from home.
Howe admitted there has been a lot of reflection on what’s gone wrong, “a lot of analysis” and a lot of work on the training ground to put some much needed changes into practice as we build towards Saturday’s clash with Man City and what he hopes to be the return of a “more consistent” run of form.
Speaking to Raisbeck about our work over the international break and efforts to get back on track, Howe said:
“I think in terms of recharging, I always find it difficult, especially if you haven’t done well in your last couple of [Premier League] games, which we haven’t.
“So it has been a mixed time for me. A lot of reflection, a lot of analysis, then a lot of work on the training pitch. So had to work really hard, hopefully we have done some good work.
“Hopefully we will see that in the coming games and we will see a return to more consistent form.”
Asked about looking for a ‘response’ from his team after back-to-back stinkers in the league against West Ham and Brentford, Howe revealed his desire to see more goals, more consistency and a move away from any negative feeling in the camp now we enter a relentless run of games:
“Yeah, it is (what I’m looking for). But, again, it is a difficult one, because it is not all bad.
“Our Premier League form has not been good and our away form has not been good. Our home form has been strong, been good in the Champions League, still in the Carabao Cup.
“So it is a mixture of things, it has been difficult to pinpoint one thing, but certainly the general performances we know have to improve. We are looking for more consistency, we are looking for more goals, we are just looking for a big response really in this moment. Which we are going to need because we have got game after game.
“Our schedule the next two months is relentless, so we can’t allow any sort of negative trend to continue. So it is a really important few weeks for us.”
Discussing our record in the ‘big games’ on Tyneside over the year, Howe then talked about our opportunity to deliver a performance and result heading into a hectic run of fixtures to end 2025:
“Yeah, it would be a perfect start to that, but we know that we are up against, what are the best team consistently in the Premier League for the last five, maybe ten years.
“So there is no bigger game for me than Manchester City in terms of test. Hopefully that brings out the best in us and we will certainly be prepared for the game.
“We have had a long time to reflect on our last performance [against Brentford] and hopefully we will see a response.”
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