Eddie Howe explains his much-maligned team selection after 3-1 win

Newcastle United's 3-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion should have been enough justification for Eddie Howe's team selection alone, in truth.

Hands up if you looked at that team sheet this afternoon and thought to yourself, 'this is in the bag'. Now put your hands down, you absolute filthy liar.

We felt that Eddie Howe's decision to make just one change from the team that started against Arsenal was a bold choice, and by bold, we mean crazy. After a very nervy opening few minutes, though, we were soon eating our words as Jacob Murphy created a goal for Will Osula, who was excellent today, by the way. 

Soon after, Joe Willock's gut-busting run won the Magpies a corner, and Bruno Guimaraes floated in an inch-perfect ball for Dan Burn to head in for 2-0. Three of the players we used as an example of why this was a poor team were all involved in the opening two goals. We're sorry.

Eddie Howe picked players he can trust

Speaking after the game, Eddie Howe justified his team selection to the media, shooting down suggestions that he picks his team based on emotion and that he picks the team he thinks will win.

“I went with players I can really trust and can handle the pressure.  I’m not picking the team on emotion; I’m picking the team to win the game.

"Those players have never let me down & they didn’t today.

“I wanted pace up front with Osula and Willock, and I wanted height in the team too.”

Discussing his selection in more depth, Howe highlighted how his selection was also weighted towards how players trained through the week. 

“I'm very open - I go into the week and I go, "Right, let's see how the players train." For me, training is a huge consequence to the team that I pick, because I have to reward good performances, good attitude, commitment during the week.

“I can't just base it off perception. I then need to see it delivered and that's where, from a supporter's perspective, they don't get to see that. They’re not party to those training sessions and I place a big emphasis on that.

“I accept my fate because I've picked it in good honesty with the intention to win the game. There's no politics involved with me, it's what gives us, in my opinion, the best chance to win the game.”

Newcastle were still poor - but it's the win that matters

When you win 3-1, it's hard to argue too much with his decision-making process.

That being said, you can't really look at that performance and say that Newcastle played well. We're still miles off from where we used to be, and even further away from where we should be.

The win should put an end to relegation fears at least. Now, can we claw our way back up the league? We're going to be relying on others as well as ourselves to do so, but it's not impossible.