Newcastle boss Eddie Howe questions 'mentality' of his players and claims made by Bruno Guimaraes that Toon were a 'mess' during derby defeat to Sunderland

Eddie Howe has questioned the ‘mentality’ of his Newcastle team and challenged comments made by captain Bruno Guimaraes, as the head coach reminded his players that angry talk off the pitch is cheap if they fail to deliver on it.

Guimaraes came out in the wake of Sunday’s 1-0 derby defeat at Sunderland and said he was ‘embarrassed’ by the performance and labelled it a ‘mess’, words clearly noted by Howe. He did not agree with all of the Brazilian’s sentiments and, on Monday, the midfielder issued another statement on social media, speaking of a need to ‘stay united’ and not ‘blame’ anyone.

But Howe wanted to address the messaging around his skipper’s post-match remarks, especially as they also included criticism of the side’s mentality.

‘What does it (mentality) mean?’ said Howe. ‘Because it's a very overused phrase, mentality. I hear it a lot, but then when people use it they need to understand what it is.

‘For me, it's our preparation. For me, it's making sure when you've got a job to do at a set-play and you're defending a corner that you've done the practice, but you also take on the seriousness of your role and responsibility and you deliver it. That for me is mentality.

‘Mentality is how you prepare, it's how professional you are, it's how you how hard you work at your game, all these things. And it's knowing your responsibilities as a team-mate to deliver your best and be as consistent as you can and leave it all on the pitch.

Eddie Howe has questioned the mentality of his Newcastle players after their derby defeat

Howe challenged Bruno Guimaraes' assessment that Newcastle were a 'mess' at Sunderland

The Newcastle boss stressed that his players must back up angry talk off the pitch on it

‘Talking off the pitch and in changing rooms for me is important, but it pales into insignificance against your will to prepare and be a really good professional. For me that's mentality and, if that's being questioned, then we need to make sure the players are aware of my thoughts.’

Howe added: ‘Bruno was 90 per cent right. I don't think we were a mess but I don't think the other part of his original comments were wrong. We weren't a mess, we just didn't deliver the performance that we wanted to.

‘Bruno is very emotional, that's part of his success and why he's such an outstanding player and leader. We have to make sure our messaging is right to the outside world. The second statement (on Monday) he put across is 100 per cent right. That's what we need, the mindset now is we can't affect the past, we can only affect the future. We need to do that together.’

However, Howe admits that he does not know what he is going to get from his players in every game this season, an inconsistency that sees them 12th in the Premier League.

‘It’s a horrible feeling, because when you go into a game, you want your players to go on to the pitch and give absolutely everything they have in their soul and their body,’ he said. ‘For me, that’s the only thing I ask a player to do. Then I back their abilities once they go on to the pitch with that mindset that they deliver a really good performance.

‘There have been a few times this season where I’ve left a game unsure on that and that’s mentality. That’s knowing you’re representing yourself and the families when you enter the pitch. Your job is to do your best - we have lost a little bit of that and it’s up to us to try and find a way to get that back.’