It was rather telling that Bruno Guimaraes rated Sunday’s derby loss at Sunderland as the most painful of his four years at the club.
After all, this is a captain who shed tears when his side lost the 2023 Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.
“The whole message in the changing room was: ‘Do it for the fans’ and we didn’t,” he said. “It’s so embarrassing for me and frustrating because we know we have a better team than them. It’s clear for me.
“But we didn’t perform like a better team – it makes me feel angry.”
Sunday’s showing is the latest setback in a stop-start campaign and Eddie Howe can ill afford to let the manner of this defeat seep into the season.
Not when Newcastle are in 12th place. Not when they have a pivotal Carabao Cup quarter-final against Fulham on Wednesday.
Not when Newcastle still have work to do to ensure they secure at least a play-off spot in the race to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League.
“You never want one game to define your season,” Howe said. “If anything, you want it to define it in a positive way and come back full steam ahead and show your class.
“That’s what we have to do.”
Read Ciaran’s analysis in full here
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