A furious Mauricio Pochettino insisted Newcastle United were 'not great' during their 4-1 win over Chelsea as he slammed his players for being 'soft' and failing to compete at St James' Park. The west London outfit were demolished in brutal second-half fashion, with many of the away side losing their heads as Newcastle's injury-hit side stayed cool and composed to kill the game off in fine style.

Pochettino was watching on from the stands as he served a one-game touchline ban but made his way down to the media room full of fury as he lambasted his failing stars in his post-match press duties. The Argentine was so angry with the Chelsea performance, he vowed to punish his players by forcing them to train early on Sunday morning after arriving back in the capital.

"Newcastle were not great but got an easy win. We had to show it was difficult for them. But it was so easy the way we conceded and were so soft in every single challenge," Pochettino said at full-time.

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"We did not play how we should play, we showed a lack of intensity and energy. Even after we scored, at 1-1, it was a chance for us to force them to play deep, but it was so easy for Newcastle.

"That is why I am so upset with the performance. It is a young team, they need this type of situation to realise. We will go to the hotel, then train early tomorrow, no time off."

However, when quizzed on Pochettino's furious comments as he took his place in front of the media moments after, Howe would not get drawn into a war of words with his counterpart over whether Newcastle were 'great' or not. Instead, the Magpies chief heaped praise on his players for not letting the current injury crisis distract from the job at hand.

"Biggest compliment I can give the players is we were ourselves today," Howe said. "The difficulty is when you have as many injuries as we have, you can become disjointed and lose your identity.

"You saw a Newcastle performance today, both in and out of possession, that the players deserve huge credit for."