Eddie Howe takes ‘full responsibility’ as Newcastle booed off after home loss

By Damian Spellman, Press Association

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe took full responsibility after his players were booed from the pitch following a 3-2 home defeat by Brentford.

Howe, who has now seen his side drop 19 Premier League points from winning positions this term, was not hiding in the wake of another damaging defeat ahead of four successive away games in three different competitions.

He said: “I’ve always said the pressure I put on myself couldn’t be more extreme because I demand really high standards from what I’m doing, how I work, what I ask the players to do and I’m obviously not doing my job well enough at the moment.

“There’s a harsh reality for me. I’ve got to think long and hard – not about my effort because I can’t question that about myself – but I think I’ve got to work better, I’ve got to do more.

“I’ve got to take full responsibility for everything you see on the pitch and I’ve got to work out solutions. I think that’s for me to do.

“Then, of course, I have to ask the same from the players.”

Sven Botman had headed the hosts in front with his first goal since New Year’s Day 2024, but they went in behind at the break thanks to Vitaly Janelt’s equaliser and an Igor Thiago penalty, his 18th goal of the season.

They dragged themselves back level through Bruno Guimaraes’ 78th-minute spot-kick, but ultimately succumbed to Dango Ouattara’s winner five minutes from time as they slipped to a fourth home defeat of the campaign.

Bees head coach Keith Andrews saluted the “fearlessness” of his players on Tyneside six days after they went to title-chasing Aston Villa and won 1-0.

Andrews, whose side now have 39 points – just five fewer than fourth-placed Manchester United – said: “We’ve set the bar high amongst the group in terms of what we would like to achieve and the standards that we have day-to-day, week-to-week.

“I feel like there’s a fearlessness around the group when they go up against teams, whoever that team is, that we can win games. We’ve shown that pretty consistently throughout the season.

“Away from home, obviously, in the last week, we’ve gone to two huge football clubs and produced really good performances and got the result.

“To win here, it’s a special night for everybody connected with the club. We had to show a lot this evening, a lot of character.

“We spoke about it before the game and in the build-up to the game around whatever was thrown at us. Could we deal with that because I now when you come here, a lot gets thrown at you, the way Eddie has the team set up, the crowd, they way they can engage, the individual quality, the momentum in games when it flips, could we deal with that, could we react to setbacks?

“I think it’s fair to say that we reacted to all of that really, really well, so (I’m) pleased, really pleased.”