NEWCASTLE UNITED 3
Lascelles (10), Joelinton (39), Saint-Maximin (75)
BRENTFORD 3
Toney (11), Henry (31), Lascelles (61 og)
Assistant manager Jason Tindall has insisted Eddie Howe’s Newcastle rescue mission was never going to be a quick fix after seeing the club slip to the foot of the Premier League.
Head coach Howe was unable to be in the dugout at St James’ Park for his first game in charge after testing positive for Covid-19, and saw the side he inherited from Steve Bruce scrap their way to a 3-3 draw with promoted Brentford in an entertaining, but error-strewn contest.
Tindall said: “When we arrived at the club, the team were where they were. And, since we’ve been here, we’ve tried to implement our philosophy on the group of players as quickly and the best we can.
“It was never going to be such a quick fix to do that. We can’t focus on the table, we can’t focus on anybody else other than ourselves.”
Newcastle took a 10th-minute lead through Jamaal Lascelles’ towering header, but surrendered within seconds as keeper Karl Darlow let former Magpie Ivan Toney’s shot squirm through his grasp.
Worse was to follow, when Rico Henry put the visitors ahead only for Joelinton to level, and, although Lascelles’ fortunes took a turn for the worse when he deflected substitute Frank Onyeka’s 62nd-minute shot into his own net, Allan SaintMaximin ensured the spoils were shared with a 75th-minute equaliser.
Tindall added: “Obviously, it wasn’t the result we wanted. We wanted to win the game and set up to win the game. But we’ve conceded three and we were disappointed with them. We’ll look at those collectively and individually and we’ll need to put them right.”
The extent of Howe’s involvement in that process, however, remains uncertain as a result of his need to isolate, although the Newcastle boss was in touch with his staff throughout yesterday.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank left Tyneside bemoaning the two points that slipped from his grasp, saying: “When you’re leading twice, it’s a little bit frustrating that you don’t get three points.
“When you score three goals in a Premier League game – home or away – you need to be able to get three points.
“The big thing we need to improve from this game is we need to defend better.”