- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 402,040
- Reaction score
- 43
You must be registered for see images attach
A top-four finish is now the primary target for Eddie Howe - Getty Images/Serena Taylor
After the party there is always the risk of a comedown, a hangover that makes you lethargic, as well as demotivated, and Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup final celebrations have lasted two weeks.
We do not know what the after-effects are going to be for a team who can be almost impossible to contain one day and flaky and disjointed the next. It has been a problem all season.
For every wonderful win against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, there have also been home defeats against Brighton (twice), Bournemouth, West Ham and Fulham (home and away).
Newcastle have become an excellent cup team, one that is good enough to beat everyone when it is performing at its optimum level. But in the league, there have been too many off-colour displays that have been suitably punished. That is why they are sixth in the table rather than occupying one of the Champions League places.
With 10 league games to go, this has already been a landmark season. Newcastle have won their first domestic trophy for 70 years and anyone who was part of the victory parade last weekend, with more than 300,000 people on the streets of the city to pay tribute to Eddie Howe and the players, felt the power and emotion of the occasion.
You must be registered for see images attach
Newcastle have twice come unstuck against Brighton this season, including when Danny Welbeck’s goal knocked them out of the FA Cup - Getty Images/Alex Dodd
‘Can we be the team we were against Liverpool?’
This, though, was the sound of Howe bringing the party to an end. The lights have come on and the music has stopped.
Asked if there were doubts about his team’s ability to maintain standards across a league campaign, Howe was unequivocal in his response.
“I can’t argue with that,” he said, eyes narrowing. “That is the big question mark against us and I include myself in that. That is the big question, can we be that team that we were against Liverpool [consistently]?
“You can’t be there every game, but you can still reach a standard and win the game. That is what we have got to try to do.
“We have done it, we played West Ham before the final, didn’t play great, but won the game through defensive steel really. We have to find ways to win games when we are not at our best.
“There will be a confidence lift after Liverpool, but you have to be careful it doesn’t go into a negative for you. You have got to try to use it for the positives.
“Consistency from me is hugely important to how we prepare, train, my message and drive – the players will hopefully see that nothing has changed. We’ve won something but ultimately we still have to improve and grow every day. That would be my message to them.
“The supporters will understand that this has been one moment in isolation, but that journey never stops and now our craving for success is even stronger internally.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Howe and his Newcastle side must now refocus on the training ground - Getty Images/Serena Taylor
Howe is right to have these concerns ahead of the arrival of Brentford on Wednesday night. Newcastle delivered one of their worst performances of the season when losing 4-2 to Thomas Frank’s side at the start of December. It was a defeat that stung Howe more than most and he admitted at the time there had been a lot of soul searching in the aftermath. His criticism of his players was far more severe than usual, in public and even more so in private. They responded with a nine-game winning run that equalled a club record.
“Whenever we lose we try to be really honest with the players,” said Howe. “And the players are honest with themselves.
“We knew as a group that was way below the standard that we expect. Not so much in terms of a general performance but the goals we conceded were really uncharacteristic for us, very soft. So, there was some frank honesty between us all and an acknowledgement we needed to improve.”
Newcastle, who have lost three out of their last five games at St James’ Park, cannot afford to look back now either. The cup final win was momentous, but it is done and dusted. Qualifying for the Champions League for a second time in three years is the new mountain to climb.
“There’s no doubting the power of Champions League football,” said Howe, who knows being in Europe’s top competition will make it far easier to persuade the likes of Alexander Isak to remain at the club long-term.
“It could be game-changing in terms of revenue and also in terms of what it means and the competition.
“But for us, qualifying for that is going to be very, very difficult. There are a lot of teams competing for those places.
“It’s one of the tightest Premier Leagues that we’ve seen in recent times, very little between the teams competing for those places, so it’s going to come down to who is the most consistent.”
You must be registered for see images attach
Champions League football would help Newcastle keep hold of Alexander Isak - Getty Images/Nigel French
When Newcastle finished in the top four two years ago, they used the pain of a cup final defeat by Manchester United as motivation. But this is not a club that is used to winning things and nobody, not even Howe, knows how they are going to react after ending the most infamous trophy drought in English football.
“It’s interesting that you mention that [the Wembley defeat two years ago] because that’s not been lost on us,” Howe added. “The pain of losing the final, although it obviously was a big disappointment, fired us in the Premier League. We used that pain to, I think, win eight out of 10 games, which was a brilliant response.
“How are we going to respond to success? That’s a really different feeling, a totally different emotion, but I think we need the outcome to be similar. It needs to fuel us, it needs to help us, not hinder us.
“For those things to happen, there’s going to have to be a good reaction from the team, so that’s probably our big test now.”
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Continue reading...
