"As we head into next season we have to put markers down for how we want to be as a team. There is no such thing as a dead game for Newcastle. Not even a pre-season friendly in my eyes. We are very proud to represent the club and we have to represent it in the right way," Eddie Howe said after the 2-0 win against Arsenal in May
As the majority of Newcastle United players, staff and fans celebrated the Magpies' win over the Gunners that night, Howe was already thinking about the summer and his side's pre-season preparations. In his press conference that evening he spoke of their being 'no dead games' for his side, whether it was a dead-rubber, end of the season Premier League clash or a pre-season friendly.
That was the message drilled into the Newcastle first-team well before they were jetting out to Austria or Portugal. In turn, his players have responded with exactly what Howe asked of them against tricky opposition.
