Eddie Howe hits back after Arsenal fans took to taunt him and Newcastle with chants during Saturday’s Premier League clash.
The new Magpies boss saw his side accused of being doomed for relegation after being in the dugout for the first time since being appointed by the new Saudi owners.
Gooners supporters thought it would be funny to mock their opposition by singing “You’re rich but you’re still shit”.
A clearly irritated Howe responded: “I don’t agree with that. I’ve seen the dressing room and we’ve got some very good players here.
“We’re lacking in confidence, naturally, through not winning a game this season. We must stay committed as we were today. I thought the attitude of the players, even when we were trailing 2-0, meant we were very good in the last period. We can only do our talking on the pitch and try and fight back.”
Newcastle will have to get ready to face Dean Smith’s Norwich City on Tuesday, with the Canaries finding some form since his arrival.
Howe added: “It’s difficult enough when scrapping for points and if it becomes a big deficit it becomes very difficult. Everyone connected with the club wants to get that first win as quickly as possible.
“We have to look at our next game as an important game. They all are. We have to give everything in the game to try and win it.”
Howe adds that his experience of keeping Bournemouth up in his time in charge there will translate to success with Newcastle.
He did however blame the referee, Stuart Attwell, for missing a penalty decision when falling 1-0 behind, as Callum Wilson went down from a Nuno Tavares challenge.
He said: ‘The key moment was Wilson going through one-on-one and the penalty was not given. My gut feeling, without seeking controversy, was that the 50-50 calls tended to go against us.
‘We were the away team against a top club and sometimes that happens. The penalty is the one we are most aggrieved with. Those moments decide games and it has gone against us.’
📺 Eddie Howe reflects on #ARSNEW.
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) November 27, 2021
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, expressed how happy he was at his side bouncing back from last weekend’s dismal 4-0 defeat away to Liverpool, to win with wonder goals from Bukayo Saka and substitute Gabriel Martinelli.
Arteta said: ‘I’m especially happy for him because of how he behaves. Some players are respectful when you make some decisions and he is patient, but at the same time he is really pushing and challenging and he makes every decision that you make even harder because he deserves more.
‘I’m really pleased because he really helped the team get the points today.’
💬 “After the 2-0 we know we have to go to a different level as a team…That’s the moment that we have to give even more, and go for the third or the fourth and make another step forward.”
🗣 @M8Arteta reflecting on the game against Newcastle#ARSNEW
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 27, 2021
Player ratings
Arsenal: Ramsdale (8), Tomiyasu (7), Gabriel (8), White (7), Tavares (7), Partey (7), Lokonga (7), Saka (8), Smith Rowe (7), Odegaard (7), Aubameyang (5)
Subs: Martinelli (8), Lacazette (6)
Newcastle: Dubravka (7), Schar (6), Lascelles (6), Krafth (6), Ritchie (6), Shelvey (7), Willock (6), Saint-Maximin (6), Joelinton (5), Fraser (6), Wilson (6)
Subs: Almiron (6), Murphy (6), Hayden (6)
Man of the match: Gabriel
Twitter users reacted as Eddie Howe hits back after Arsenal fans taunt him and Newcastle with chants…
@JamesNUFC10: Confident that he can deliver a win on Tuesday
@NotAllowed0ut: We got to remember we are going away to a place we haven’t won at in years against a team who are easily top 6 in the league we werent expected to win, tuesday is where we need to win though or we are in big trouble
@nufc42: Its a fair assessment for me. My only criticism would be the central midfield. I could see why Jonjo was in but Willock offered nothing forward or back. If you play that system you have to give more control in midfield. It was always going to take time. I do like Eddie as a coach
@Andy_11_: We were garbage and gutless, where’s the desire to win the ball back? Where’s the desire to get forward? Where’s the desire to be good in possession? We’re a broken team, Bruce has neglected us rotten.
@RiteshAch10: Give us ASM before going down to the Championship please. 10 million will do, take it or leave it
@NUFC_Neil83: In the first half we fought for the ball every time they got it. In the second we backed off because we were running out of energy. Steve Bruce has instilled a lazy style of football and yet again the players heads went down at 1 nil
@kafeitiere: 0 positives from that. Go down. Rebuild. Move on.
@Danielwoodward6: We were more organised for a percentage of the match and this team lacks confidence and we have 2 massive back to back matches so we got to be on it from Tuesday night onwards.
@JustZephh_26: Absolutely awful. As bad as we were under Bruce. No chance we are staying up. Not expecting a win against arsenal but fuck me lads atleast have a go and try anything to get our hopes up. That ref can do one aswell. Didn’t deserve anything but jesus he gave us nothing all game.
@Andrew_hay85: I’m going to politely disagree with Eddie on this. We were shit for easily 80% of the game. Carried too many today (ASM & Willock main culprits). But ultimately it’s at the back where we are absolutely fucking woeful.
@Caz8maw: He is desperately trying to boost this team till we can get to January. So think about it, to kick them when they are down will not help the situation. He knows he is flogging a dead horse. But needs to work with what he has. In his situation what would you do? #Nufc
@Joe_e_shabadoo:
Eddie did you see what I did.
We had possession of the ball for a maximum of 5 seconds before simply surrendering back to Arsenal.
It was attack v defence AGAIN!
There is no jeopody playing NUFC – just keep calm and you beat us.
That’s on you Howe!
@FrigidNinja78: We need to be relegated, to get rid of all the dead wood we’re carrying. Only then, can the rebuilding of our team begin.
@SavMondo: NUFC might not thank me, but get the contract out, put it on the table, let him sign it, let him write whatever numbers he wants to put on there given what he’s done since he’s been back off the bench.
He’s at the wheel, he’s doing his thing. Fabian Schär is back!
@LeeEvans85: No mate! Just say we were shite! Tell the fans the defence is criminal and they are all off jan 👋
@DanneMedSkagget: This squad isnt good enough, unfortunately. The mismanagement and neglect over the past years is taking its toll. I really hope the owners are prepared to play Championship football for a few years. That’s VERY close now.
@Mickylad1: When you have a bag of shit, it doesn’t matter what shape you mould it in, at the end of the day its still a bag of shit. This is the result of years of underfunding and Ashley not Howes fault.
@milessteven001: There’s no shame in a narrow defeat away to a very good Arsenal team. We played better today than we have for most of the season & Howe’s impact is already evident in terms of effort. We just need some results now, although VAR checks for longer than 3 seconds would also be nice.
@JustZephh_26: Mate, we were shite. We didn’t play better at all. Our whole strike force was none existent all game. If they could finish we would have been done 4 or 5 nil. Shocking performance.
— Kieran (@KieranNUFC_) November 27, 2021
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