Eddie Howe says the ‘long and painful’ fallout from December’s Wear-Tyne derby has to serve as motivation ahead of Sunday’s return fixture.
Newcastle lost 1-0 at the Stadium of Light when Nick Woltemade scored an own goal early in the second half and Howe and his players faced a furious backlash for the result and nature of their performance. Some of that anger still lingers and the head coach admits they let supporters down that day.
Now, they are bidding to reverse that angst as well as bounce back from Wednesday’s 7-2 defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League last 16.
‘The fallout of it was long and painful,’ said Howe. ‘It certainly did not help us. There is an extra weight with the fixture in the sense of, you know if you don’t perform, there will be a large and painful baggage that goes with you. We don’t want that. It affects future performances and affects the emotion and feeling of the whole city.
‘But I would much prefer to go with the positive message. We need to inspire the players, not put fear into them. We want all the positives of the game that can carry us on a new run and a new wave of optimism. So you know you’re going into the game on a knife-edge. In some respects, that can bring out the best in your players. It’s all the positive emotions we want, because it could be a turning point in our season very much for the better.’
NIck Woltemade’s own goal at the Stadium of Light gave Sunderland a famous victory
It was levelled at the group that they did not grasp the size of the fixture last time, but Howe said: ‘I think they did know the enormity of the game. For whatever reason we didn’t perform to our normal levels. There are no excuses on that. We have to take accountability for that.
‘But it’s a very delicate balance with teams and professional athletes. What do you want them to think going into a game? You certainly don’t want them to think, “We can’t lose?”. We want them to think, “We’ve got to play at our best levels, I’ve got to execute my best game”, all those positive emotions. That’s what we will be trying to flood into the players.’
Meanwhile, Howe addressed the gulf that became apparent in the second half at the Nou Camp this week, when Barcelona scored four goals without reply.
‘We’ve got a bit of work to do (for the club to be at their level),’ he said. ‘Firstly, we have to earn the right to qualify for those tournaments. That in itself is really tough to do when you look at the teams we’re competing with in the Premier League.
‘Then, when you compare us to the elite teams in Europe, we have some work to do in all aspects of the football club. It’s nothing that anybody wouldn’t be aware of – we have to raise standards all across the board at the football club. Invariably with that comes with a cost, so everything is inter-linked.
‘But from my side, I’m trying to coach the team and navigate our way through seasons. It’s about elevating standards of behaviour, elevating standards of my work, the coaching staff’s work and passing that on to the players.’
