WEST BROMWICH // Chris Hughton, the Newcastle United manager, held a lengthy post-match inquest with his players after they crashed 3-1 at West Bromwich Albion.
Two goals from Peter Odemwingie and a first at The Hawthorns for Somen Tchoyi means Newcastle have picked up only two points from their last five matches.
Hughton kept his players locked in the dressing room for more than an hour after the final whistle before finally facing the media.
He said: "After most games, there tends to be an inquest into the game and today we didn't do well enough to win a football match. Some of it is about getting answers, some of it is about venting your anger.
"But these are the normal things that will go on after a game, particularly when the result has been as disappointing as today.
"Our season has very much been highs and lows. We've picked up some disappointing results and we've had some tremendous results. We lost away at Bolton a couple of weeks ago, which was probably our poorest result of the season, and we came here on the back of a good result last week [against Chelsea].
"But we weren't good enough in enough departments today and that is why we have been in there [the dressing room] so long."
Hughton added: "I wasn't happy with the performance. I didn't think we started the game well enough. I thought we added to our own downfall with the goals. But we've given away poor goals and you can't do that against anyone in this division."
Roberto Di Matteo, the West Brom manager, hailed a "brilliant performance" by his team, who moved into the top half of the table after a first league win over Newcastle for 26 years.
He said: "We were on top of our game from the start to the final whistle and scored some great goals. We had the majority of the game. We had a little spell in the second half when we were under pressure but we defended that well and then got the second goal.
"I wouldn't say it was easy. We played very well and had to work hard to get the three points. Even at 1-0, they had a chance. But we've now got derbies against Aston Villa and Wolves and can go into them full of confidence."
Tchoyi's fine shot gave West Brom a deserved half-time lead after they dominated the opening 45 minutes. Odemwingie then notched his fifth goal of the campaign to stretch their advantage.
He added another in the closing seconds to take his side past the 20 point mark before a last-gasp reply by Peter Lovenkrands.