"YOU F------ DESERVE IT!" the Liverpool supporter hissed as Newcastle United players and staff left the field to a chorus of boos at Anfield. Liverpool had just won the game 2-1, following a dramatic 98th-minute winner, yet you would not have known it.
It was a night where emotions ran high last August; Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg stuck two fingers up at the visiting bench after Fabio Carvalho's winning goal while Dan Hodges, Newcastle's head of performance, threw a bottle. In a written apology to the FA's independent regulatory commission, Achterberg could not help but admit that he 'felt satisfied that Newcastle’s apparent attempt to delay the match had not been successful' as he explained his actions.
However, the manner of that loss only brought an already tight-knit group at Newcastle closer together. This was not a feeling Eddie Howe and his players wanted to experience again.
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"It was a very painful experience," the Newcastle boss told ChronicleLive. "I'll tell you that. There were seconds left to go when we conceded the second goal.
"Maybe, in some way, it did ignite our fires and give us something to make us more resolute and respond in a really positive way. We have since that game."
Newcastle have since embarked on a 17-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, which is the longest undefeated streak in Europe's top five leagues, and reached the Carabao Cup final. Yes, Newcastle have only won just one of their last six top-flight fixtures, but it is worth remembering that the Magpies are nine points clear of Liverpool in fourth place ahead of Jurgen Klopp side's visit to St James' on Saturday.
At the heart of that streak has been an infectious work ethic. Those at the training ground point to Howe's 'incredible energy levels' and the Newcastle boss' shift does not stop when he gets home after a 12-hour day at Benton. Indeed, it is rather apt that Howe is rarely spotted out of his club tracksuit even when he is away from the club's training base - the Newcastle boss is simply obsessed with bringing success back to Tyneside.
That thirst to improve is shared by his staff, an experienced team made up of ex-players, ex-assistants and even ex-managers, who all know their jobs and all know how Howe works. There is no doubting Howe is in charge - the Newcastle head coach is incredibly hands-on - but these coaches have helped the 45-year-old get his message across quickly, often 'ganging up' and taking individual players aside to do extras on the training pitches.
There has been an intensity to training that has quickly struck those young coaches or out of work managers within the game who have asked to watch the sessions at Benton. It may sound obvious, but Newcastle train the way they play.
On the rare occasions Newcastle are not hitting those optimum levels on the training pitches, Howe thinks nothing of stopping the session and turning the air blue. It is all about standards as assistant Graeme Jones explained.
"Ed has got this conscience that everything has to be done properly - no matter what it is," Jones told ChronicleLive. "He's not just like that with the players, but his staff, too. He's very demanding of his staff.
"If you're demanding of your staff, your staff are demanding of the players. It comes from him. He has got an elite mentality and elite standards, and we have got that in the football club."
It is not just the standards on the training pitches that have been raised. Howe and his staff have been able to count on the support of the club's owners at the training ground, which is currently being modernised, as well in the transfer market.
ChronicleLive understands the management team had experience of using cryotherapy from their time at Bournemouth and, with the resources the club now have, staff were able to bring in a semi-permanent chamber, which has been in place for a few months. This is typically a three-minute treatment where a player or a group of players walk into a pre-chamber cooled to -60°C. Thirty seconds later, they will move into a larger chamber where the air is reduced to temperatures as low as -130°C.
These sessions help with fatigue, inflammation, soft tissue injuries and, even, sleep quality and while Newcastle have looked a little drained of late, Howe has still been able to name unchanged XIs on a number of occasions this season. The chamber even enabled Bruno Guimaraes to make a remarkable six-day recovery from his ankle injury after leaving St James' Park on crutches following the win against Fulham last month.
In the refurbished canteen, meanwhile, everything is now fresh with locally sourced meat, fish, vegetables and bread. This may not seem ground-breaking but it serves as a reminder of what has changed since the Ashley era. Indeed, it was only a couple of years ago that some ingredients were as good as past their best before the chefs could even use them because they were imported from afar.
These little one per cents all add up, but they would not count for anything without a committed group of players open to new ideas. However, that is exactly what Howe encountered on his first day at the club in November, 2021.
Newcastle may have been in dire relegation trouble at the time, but the dressing room was united. There had been no 'blame culture', which was a little unusual for a side in such a perilous position, and bonds have only been strengthened ever since.
Jonjo Shelvey and Chris Wood were not regular starters in recent months, for instance, but it was rather telling that the pair's mid-season departures were sorely felt not just by their team-mates but by Howe, too. After all, as measured as Howe is in front of the cameras, the Newcastle boss is known to be 'emotional' behind the scenes and players and staff feel they can come to him - even with off the field concerns. That goes a long way as Fabian Schar knows only too well after the defender's Newcastle career was effectively saved by Howe.
"I can't say this in two or three words," Schar told ChronicleLive. "Eddie is a top manager first and foremost. You see all the details. The meetings make sense. This gives the team the belief.
"But, as a human, he wants to know how you feel, how you think, and he knows every player is different. He knows how to handle this and this was the biggest thing I appreciated in how he handled me and gave me the confidence.
"As a team, we're in a different situation than we have been for a long time. From day one, I felt the confidence from him, which is what I needed as a player."
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