What Yasir Al-Rumayyan told Newcastle United players in dressing room visit after Brighton win
Yasir Al-Rummayyan was in attendance as Newcastle United beat Brighton & Hove Albion at St James’ Park.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan addressed Newcastle United’s squad following their 3-1 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
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The Magpies ended a run of five straight defeats to move up 13th in the Premier League table, 11 points above the relegation zone and five behind the European qualification places with three matches left to play.
Will Osula scored the opener before Dan Burn added a second to give United a 2-0 lead at half-time.
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Jack Hinshelwood pulled one back for Brighton on the hour mark, but the hosts survived a nervy finish before substitute Harvey Barnes made sure of the win in stoppage time.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan speaks to Newcastle United players after Brighton win
Following the win, Howe revealed Al-Rumayyan visited the Magpies’ dressing room and reaffirmed the players of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to the club.
Al-Rumayyan and a PIF delegation have been on Tyneside since Thursday to host their annual board meeting.
“Not a couple of words individually, but mainly with the group,” Howe revealed. “He spoke with the players after the game and spoke really well about his plans for the future and how committed he and everyone is to the football club, long-term growth and exciting times ahead. That was great to see.”
Eddie Howe reflects on Newcastle United’s win over Brighton
Reflecting on the win : “From an emotional level, that was a massive win for us. We knew it, everyone knew it internally.
“I think we've been building towards that for a few weeks and the training has been really strong, it's been really committed, it's been very competitive. I'm a big believer that you always end up getting your rewards for that if your work continues to be strong and credit to the players for sticking together, staying united.
“Behind the scenes, they've been excellent and at times we've rode a little bit of luck today, but I think we've more than deserved that in the recent weeks.
“As much as I would like it to be easier, I think the reality is that was always going to be a tough win for us today because Brighton play a style that's probably very difficult for us to play against at the moment. They're fluid, they want possession of the ball and then the temptation is to stretch yourself and leave gaps. And we did that for a period of time, I think at the beginning of the second half.
“The majority of the game, I thought we defended really well as a team, so as much as I'd love to say, yeah, we want it more comfortable, I think you've got to be realistic when you haven't won for so long.
“That first win is probably going to be tight. But in some senses, I think the tightness of the win does us more good than harm because I think we're in a position where we're 2-0 up, we go 2-1 and the biggest test that we'll have is with the leads that we've chucked away this season in that moment.And we came through it.
“So actually, I think there's a lot of growth in that and hopefully that will serve us well in the next few weeks.”