Inside Newcastle United's week of 'home truths' as Magpies capitalise on unexpected change


Eddie Howe has lifted the lid on the intense video review sessions at the club's training ground last week.

It's fair to say a few home truths were shared between the Newcastle United squad and Howe's backroom team as they tried to get to the bottom of the 3-1 defeat at Fulham. Howe admitted that there had been a couple of days of suffering at their Tyneside HQ but feels it sparked a reaction in the clash with Man City.

Howe told Chronicle Live: "That's probably the most we've reviewed a game with the players, so they had a lot of time to digest the performance, but I think if we produce something, it's only right that we analyse it in the correct way with a view to, of course, producing a much better outcome.

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"It was a different week than the one we expected because we expected to play on Tuesday, so we were all preparing for the game on Tuesday on Monday morning just before I'm due to come to speak to you and then, of course, the game is called off.

"I think I said in my press conference on Friday, that was probably a good thing for us because it gave us a chance to attack a clear training week and build our game-plan for Manchester City from Monday, really."

Howe is now trying to build confidence and momentum in his squad going into the Carabao Cup tie against Wimbledon on Tuesday then on to Everton on Saturday night. Newcastle are showing signs of being back to the team they once were.

When asked if this team could genuinely be anything they want to be, Howe said: "That's very much my mindset, that we can be whatever we want to be. We are in control of what we deliver and there should be no obstacle to how we think internally, and we're all working towards that sort of aim."