After the party there is always the risk of a comedown, a hangover that makes you lethargic, as well as demotivated, and Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup final celebrations have lasted two weeks.
We do not know what the after-effects are going to be for a team who can be almost impossible to contain one day and flaky and disjointed the next. It has been a problem all season.
For every wonderful win against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, there have also been home defeats against Brighton (twice), Bournemouth, West Ham and Fulham (home and away).
Newcastle have become an excellent cup team, one that is good enough to beat everyone when it is performing at its optimum level. But in the league, there have been too many off-colour displays that have been suitably punished. That is why they are sixth in the table rather than occupying one of the Champions League places.
With 10 league games to go, this has already been a landmark season. Newcastle have won their first domestic trophy for 70 years and anyone who was part of the victory parade last weekend, with more than 300,000 people on the streets of the city to pay tribute to Eddie Howe and the players, felt the power and emotion of the occasion.
‘Can we be the team we were against Liverpool?’
This, though, was the sound of Howe bringing the party to an end. The lights have come on and the music has stopped.
Asked if there were doubts about his team’s ability to maintain standards across a league campaign, Howe was unequivocal in his response.
“I can’t argue with that,” he said, eyes narrowing. “That is the big question mark against us and I include myself in that. That is the big question, can we be that team that we were against Liverpool [consistently]?
“You can’t be there every game, but you can still reach a standard and win the game. That is what we have got to try to do.
“We have done it, we played West Ham before the final, didn’t play great, but won the game through defensive steel really. We have to find ways to win games when we are not at our best.
“There will be a confidence lift after Liverpool, but you have to be careful it doesn’t go into a negative for you. You have got to try ...
