What Eddie Howe didn't do in Newcastle United's dressing room after Brentford defeat

Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Eddie Howe kept his words to a minimum in the immediate aftermath of Newcastle United’s 4-2 defeat at Brentford.

The Magpies’ head coach blasted his side’s defensive performance and questioned their willingness to win following a poor second-half.

The game was level at half-time as United twice come from behind with goals from Alexander Isak and Harvey Barnes cancelling out Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa’s strikes. However, Howe’s side struggled to get going after the restart as Nathan Collins and substitute Kevin Schade found the net.

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Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Eddie Howe, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC at Brentford Community Stadium on December 07, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Newcastle’s defeat at the Gtech Community Stadium falls in line with theme of the season so far. They have beaten Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Chelsea, and drawn with Liverpool and Manchester City, however failed to win against the likes of West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Everton, West Ham United and Fulham.

After Brentford, Howe’s frustrations were clear but he refrained from making any rash statements when addressing his players in the dressing room at full-time.

“The answers are always internal, always within the group,” said Howe. “We have to do better, I have to do better - it’s a collective thing. We have to do the work and maintain a focus on improvement. We’ll do that, I’ve got no doubt about that.

“It’s very difficult to control your emotions at this moment but that is what I have to do for myself and I have to be very reflective when I look back and make tweaks.

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“We are tweaking things all the time, we are not doing the same thing and I will continue to do that until we do find the answers."

Howe instead plans to hold an in-depth meeting next week ahead of welcoming Leicester City to St James’ Park on Saturday.

“In my experience you can make a lot of mistakes when you speak to players directly after a game,” said Howe. “You can say a lot of things you regret on your own emotion so I try to keep my conversations with them very short.

“But certainly when we reflect it’ll be very long because we have to give the information on where we think we went wrong and then we have to do the work to put it right.”

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