The pressure continues to build on Ange Postecoglou, with the "shattered" Australian admitting he was the angriest he'd ever been in his career over a handball decision that kick-started his Tottenham side's latest home defeat in an alarming slide.
The former Socceroos boss, clearly having to bite his tongue while in the most unhappy of moods, was even reduced to constantly suggesting Spurs hadn't been allowed to play on "a fair and even playing ground", such was the injustice of the decision that allowed Newcastle to equalise before going on to win 2-1.Â
Postecoglou saluted the effort from his injury-ravaged outfit, but was still fuming hours later on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) about the visitors' sixth-minute equaliser from Anthony Gordon being allowed to stand, even though it had come about thanks to a hand-ball in the build-up by teammate Joelinton.
Spurs had gone ahead through Dominic Solanke two minutes earlier, but Postecoglou went ballistic after Gordon's goal, looking aghast at referee Andrew Madley after Joelinton had clearly if inadvertently intercepted Lucas Bergvall's pass with his hand in the build-up.
VAR ruled the Brazilian's arm had been in a natural position and contact was  accidental, but it left Postecoglou and his bench furious, just as they were later when Newcastle's Dan Burn, already on a yellow card, got away with a second after another handball.
"I'm hugely proud of the performance and shattered we didn't get the reward the players deserved. It was brilliant, outstanding and we deserved to win," Postecoglou said.
"On any other day, on a fair and even playing ground, we would win that game."
When quizzed further about Gordon's goal, Postecoglou added: "I'm just really, really angry, angriest I think I have ever been in my career, that they were denied the right rewards for a fantastic performance.
"Don't keep asking me about the decision. I know you just want me to say something but I'm not going to. I think it's clear. Now whether people agree with me or not, whether it wasn't handball or it was accidental, I'm just not interested in any of that discussion.
"What I'm saying is, on any given day with a fair and even playing field and logical thought processes, we would have won that game. That's it. You can make what you want of that."
Even Newcastle boss Eddie Howe appeared to have sympathy, admitting it had been a handball but he said the rules, as they now stand, had been applied correctly.Â
"I believe his arm is down in a natural position and the referee and VAR have followed the rules and protocols that are in place. That's why it is given," he said.
Still, Postecoglou couldn't stop suggesting things might have been different if Spurs had been playing on a "fair and equal" playing field, something he mentioned half-a-dozen times in another terse interview with the BBC.
The defeat continues an increasingly worrying streak for him, with Spurs having picked up just five points in eight matches and with 10 players sidelined through injury.
Their League Cup semi-final first leg at home to Liverpool on Wednesday now looms as ever more critical for the man who says he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club.
The defeat leaves Tottenham now 12th in the table, 21 points behind leaders Liverpool and 12 behind the Champions League-chasing top four.
