Eddie Howe, Newcastle United’s manager, had lots to say about Birmingham City and the atmosphere at St Andrew’s following his team’s 3-2 FA Cup triumph.

Although Newcastle advanced to the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, Birmingham’s impressive effort deserves to be highlighted.

Magpies manager Howe was quick to applaud the Blues, impressed by their tenacity in what he expected would be a difficult test given the disparity in skill between the two sides. Newcastle are Premier League top-four contenders, while Birmingham are League One leaders, separated by 40 places in the pyramid, yet there was nothing to distinguish the two clubs under the lights.

 

“A really tricky game,” Howe confessed in the postgame news conference. “I believe before the game, we knew it was going to be a tough encounter, and then we lose within a minute, and all your fears are verified. The atmosphere in the stadium is fantastic, and I think we performed well to navigate the first half of the game, which was difficult for us.”
Prior to the match, Howe praised Blues manager Chris Davies for his achievements at St Andrew’s and expressed excitement about the stadium’s potential for loudness. Howe regarded Birmingham as a “huge football club with a brilliant supporter base,” and his sentiments were confirmed after his most recent match against them.

“I’ve watched a lot of them in the build-up to the game, that’s why I knew today was going to be very difficult,” said Howe. “I like their style, I like the system that they play, and they have some physical players, which is important in the league that they’re in. I believe Chris is doing an excellent job.

“I also want to recognize Tomoki Iwata’s shot for the second goal. From their standpoint, it was a tremendous success, and I was fully behind it.”

Chris Davies is satisfied with Birmingham’s performance.

Blues’ head coach mirrored Howe’s plaudits, expressing delight in his team’s efforts despite loss. It was always going to be difficult to beat a team competing for a Champions League berth two levels above, but Birmingham matched their opponents for most of the game.

Many teams in such an underdog situation would sit deep to construct a low block and hope for luck on the counter-attack, but Birmingham maintained their regular high-tempo style. The Birmingham World questioned Davies if sticking to his regular methods against top-tier competition was a sign of determination.

“Yes, possibly,” Davies said. “The fine balance we were attempting to find tonight was being ourselves but not going overboard, appreciating the opposition, and adjusting things. We did it; there were intricacies in how we set ourselves in relation to the opposition.

“From our perspective, we looked like ourselves and performed well. The lads had an appetite, and they were hungry and energetic. It was excellent; I was particularly impressed with how they handled the physical demands. Obviously, by the end, they were fatigued, as were some of the Newcastle players.”

Read more on sportupdates.co.uk