'I'm not blind' - Howe 'accountable' for loss after three-week break
This is where the Newcastle manager and his staff have previously come into their own, improving individuals who were signed and inherited with their intense, demanding drills and eye for detail. Such productivity was at the heart of Newcastle ending a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy by winning the League Cup last season and qualifying for the Champions League in 2025 and 2023. Those hours have been at a premium during a relentless campaign this time around.
Yet former England goalkeeper and Match of the Day pundit Ben Foster suspected there would be some "weird and wonderful" results this weekend due to teams' contrasting schedules. "It's hard to get into a rhythm of things when you haven't played for such a long time," he said. "It depends where you are in the league but I think for some teams it suits them better to have a game every three or four days rather than three weeks off.
" Although a number of Howe's players were away on international duty for most of the gap between games, these past few days still felt like the ideal period for the squad to regroup. Not least when they were facing a Crystal Palace side who had only played in Europe on Thursday and benched key players such as Adam Wharton, Ismaila Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta, who ended up turning the game on its head during a match-winning cameo. However, on this evidence, there is little to suggest Newcastle are about to finally go on a run and qualify for Europe.
"I always have to look at myself first," Howe said. "I always say that. I'm number one accountable.
" Mateta's late Palace double strike stuns Newcastle Newcastle United have dropped five more points from winning positions than any other side in the Premier League Howe issued similar words after a bruising defeat against bitter rivals Sunderland last time out. A response was sorely needed and the Newcastle head coach attempted to jolt his side by wielding the axe. Stalwarts Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier were dropped as Howe made six changes and named a noticeably younger starting line-up.