Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe's 'frank and honest' exchange with players

Newcastle United were beaten 5-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday after a second-half capitulation.

Howe felt that his team took too many "risks" after going behind after the break, and he spoke to his players after the game, and again this week, in an attempt to address what went wrong.

Asked if there’d been a need to address his squad, United’s head coach said: “Yeah, definitely.

"It’s very important that second half doesn’t linger. I think we had to put it to bed quite quickly, and while acknowledging what we didn’t do right.

"You certainly can’t let it fester within the group. We have another game, and lots of important games to come, and we have to learn the lessons from it, of which there were many.

“I think that’s the beauty of it in a game like that where you come away and go we can put these things right and become a better team for it. Sometimes, you have an afternoon like that – and you can come out a much better team for it.”

Newcastle’s players have this week seen a different side to Howe, who gave an honest assessment of the team’s performance in the dressing room after the Tottenham game.

Howe said: “We spoke in the dressing room, and you have to speak frankly and honestly at certain moments.

"I'm not one to talk for too long after a game, because emotions are high and you can make mistakes.

"But, certainly, this week, without going into too much detail, I have changed the way I've dealt with the players, because I didn't like what I saw in the second half – and nobody connected with the club liked what they saw.

"It's a learning process, and we have to analyse. I'm a big analyser, and we have to find out why – and put that right.”

Newcastle are 15th in the Premier League table, and seven points above the relegation zone, ahead of tomorrow’s home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers.