Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe has admitted his side were ‘unrecognisable’ and that the 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth was ‘a tough watch.'
Dominic Solanke opened the scoring on the hour mark following a defensive error, and doubled the Cherries lead in the 73rd minutes meaning the Magpies would have to make the 350-mile trip back to Tyneside with nothing to show for their travels.
The result means that Newcastle drop down to seventh in the table, with teams below them still to play.
Speaking to the press after the game, Howe said: “I think it was a game that we could not be where we needed to be for it; it was a tough watch.
“I see the players every day and we were unrecognisable today from where we can be and how we have been for such a long period of time, the players have been so consistent but today was a real off day.
He added: “There are reasons for it, but I don’t want to sit here and make excuses and I do want to support the players.”
The Magpies came into this game walking wounded, missing a large number of the squad through injury or suspension meaning Howe had to look to the youth teams for extra bodies. The woes continued for Howe, who at one point shook his head in disbelief after Miguel Almiron was forced off early into the first half.
Talking about the issue for Almiron, Howe said: “It’s a hamstring problem, I hope it’s not serious, we don’t know at this moment in time how bad it is.”
Callum Wilson was also a notable absentee after going off at half-time against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday.
“[Wilson] won’t travel with England, he is going to be out for a number of weeks.”
Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier had to be forced away from the away fans after going back and forth with a supporter. Howe consoled Trippier on the pitch after the events occurred.
Speaking about the incident and how Trippier is feeling Howe said: “Kieran is fine, I think emotions run high and we all feel it after the game from our perspective.
“I have no problems, we thank all our away support, we appreciate them greatly but I know it was a tough watch for them today.”
Lewis Hall made his first Premier League start for the Magpies, but he was taken off at half-time for Tino Livramento.
Talking about the decision to take Hall off, Howe said: “It was not a reflection on Lewis’ performance, with our early substitution (of Almiron) we knew he would not play a full 90 minutes at this stage so I did not want to impact my ability to make changes, so that was the reason for the decision.”
"I have to give credit to Bournemouth"
This is Newcastle’s third away defeat of the season in just six games, having only won one of those six, leaving much to be desired from the travelling fans.
Talking about away form, Howe said: “We are well aware of our away record not being what we would like it to be, I think we have been a bit unfortunate with the draws at West Ham and Wolves, they may give an unfair reflection on some of our performances but I think when you go away from home they are very difficult games, today was a difficult game.
“I have to give credit to Bournemouth, I thought they played very well but this is certainly something to reflect on.”
Despite the number of injuries mounting and a tough run of fixtures ahead, Howe insists that the performance was not good enough, even with the number of setbacks.
He said: “There’s no excuses from my side, I’m not going to sit here and not take ownership of the performance, it’s important that is something we do.
“Certainly (the ownership) starts from me, I have to take ownership from what we have delivered and it has not been good enough.” He added.
A small beam of light in what was otherwise an underwhelming performance for the Magpies was the first Premier League start for 17-year-old Lewis Miley, a fellow youth teammate Ben Parkinson also came on in the second half for his first-ever senior appearance.
“It was a great experience for both of them. I thought Lewis did really well in what was a tough game for him to come into but I thought he handled himself in a way I thought he would.
“You have to remember he has just come back from glandular fever as well so he is probably not at his best physically.
“I think young (Ben) Parkinson would have enjoyed that, he did what I asked him to do but it was a tough moment for him to come into."
Newcastle will now have two weeks off for the international break before returning to action against Chelsea on November 25, which will see the return of Bruno Guimaraes and potentially Alexander Isak.