"I'm very unhappy" - Brutally honest Bruno calls for change at Newcastle United

After the loss against Marseille in the Champions League, club captain Bruno Guimaraes certainly didn’t pull his punches when criticising how he and the rest of the team made silly mistakes that ultimately cost us the win.

And it looked like the Bruno’s words were listened to, as we produced one of our best performances of the season so far against Everton in our 1-4 away win at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t follow up on Saturday’s clinical display, as we again let a lead slip in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Spurs.

Having produced a strong second half cameo for himself, Bruno has every right to feel aggrieved with the fact we didn’t taken all three points, and the Brazilian had some serious words to say in his reflection of Tuesday’s game…

Bruno questions Toon mentality

Speaking after the final whistle on Tuesday, our visibly frustrated captain couldn’t hide how bitterly disappointed with the result, calling for a change of mindset ahead of a game we "have to win" against Burnley this weekend.

No team has lost more points (11) from winning positions in the league this season, and Tuesday night's 95th-minute concession was another gut punch, not just for the timing of the goal but the nature of Cristian Romero's uncontested overhead kick.

Discussing the late drama, Bruno questioned why we weren't defending 'like our lives depended on it' in the dying minutes in another 'unacceptable' way to drop two precious points.

“I’m very unhappy. We cannot concede a bicycle goal in the last minute in our box. We lost two important points tonight at home. I feel like we’ve lost the game.

“My goal was a great moment. But I would swap that goal - I would change everything for the three points tonight."

“It is everything about mentality. Everyone had to defend like their lives depend upon it with four minutes left in the game. We have to defend better and we miss out on three points.

"I feel sad. I feel unhappy for the fans. It’s not the way I want us to play. Everyone is disappointed in there. It's unacceptable but we have to stick together."

Another home game is coming up this weekend, and it’s a tricky customer in Scott Parker’s Burnley, whose 19th place position in the table is an unfair reflection of how much bother they’ve caused big teams in games this season.

And Bruno has sent out a rallying cry to his teammates to put Tuesday’s result behind them, address any issues with their mindset and mentality, and do all it can to get all three points.

"We have another game on Saturday and we have to play well and win the game.

"We have to move on. We will be sad today and tomorrow, but we have to change our mindset and think about Burnley.

"We have to win on Saturday, we have ambitions to get in the top four again and we have to turn things around."

Alarming record without Bruno

Since making his first start in March 2022, Newcastle have not won any of their nine Premier League fixtures without Bruno Guimaraes in the starting 11.

Where players have regressed in mentality and their approach to ‘smaller’ games this season, Bruno’s attitude and dedication to winning never seems to dip below 100%, as he showed in his superb cameo appearance in the second half.

With such a record without Bruno, Howe has a difficult choice to make over the coming weeks and months. Even a player of Bruno’s calibre will get fatigued, but it feels vital that the Brazilian does not miss upcoming tests against Bayer Leverkusen, Sunderland, Fulham, Chelsea and Man Utd between now and Boxing Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY4hburV9Lo&pp=ygUPYnJ1bm8gZ3VpbWFyYWVz