The Scouse drawl was more bullish than beaten, the manager's mood tinged less with desperation and laced instead with defiance.
"Last weekend I was absolutely gutted, I was sick, but you've got to get up and fight," snarled Peter Reid. "It's the only way to react. To fight."
Typical Reidy. With his job on the line and defeat at home to Aston Villa inconceivable tomorrow, the Sunderland manager returned to the club's Whitburn training complex yesterday after a two-day break in his native north-west. There were clear-the-air talks with his players, but Wearside demands an exorcism of Saturday's humiliation 12 miles up the road at St James's Park. It will take more than victory over Villa to achieve that, but failure this weekend could mean the end.
"My feelings were plain to see after the Newcastle game," said Reid, who resorted to a stinging public criticism of his staff after the meek 2-0 loss on Tyneside in an attempt to stir a squad that boasts six players who featured at last summer's World Cup.
"But what's the point of moping around? You have to bounce back. We've got internationals at this football club and now we've got to start delivering. It was a big decision for me to criticise them in public, but it wasn't just the derby game that was the straw that broke the camel's back. These are a good set of lads, but everyone needs a little bit of criticism every now and then.
"But they're still good pros. I brought most of these players here and I believe in them. I look at them on paper and think what good players they are, but they are not showing it. They just needed a kick up the backside. I've every confidence in them and, dare I say it, think the world of a lot of them."
Some would argue that the manager's faith has hardly been vindicated. That same group of under-achieving internationals has won only four games in all competitions since last St Stephen's Day. More damning is that in the 59 Premiership games since Sunderland, second-placed at the time, lost 1-0 at home to the leaders Manchester United on January 31st, 2001, they have won only 14 league matches.
The poor entertainment on offer has driven much of the club's support to despair, and away from the Stadium of Light. Should the attendance slip below 30,000 against Villa, simple economics may force chairman Bob Murray's hand, with rumours persisting over interest in George Graham or David O'Leary as a replacement for Reid.
A conversation between Murray and Reid on Sunday preceded a brief spell away from Whitburn - "It was hardly a holiday, mind," stressed Reid - with the player-coach Niall Quinn holding an impromptu meeting with the players on Monday to discuss the club's malaise. All is apparently now well.
"But I thought there was a buzz in the build-up to the Newcastle game and look what happened," admitted the club's manager of seven years. "It was the lack of desire at St James's that got to me: desire to win tackles, to get forward, to enjoy the game, to not get beat.
"The break was no big deal. Believe it or not I do have a mobile telephone and I do know how to work it. I was in contact with Quinny and (assistant manager) Adrian Heath, and it does a manager good to get away for a while. People have read too much into it.
"I was actually all right on Sunday and over that initial anger, with my attention already turned to Villa, wondering if I should make changes. Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees, but I jotted a few potential line-ups down while I was away. I was happy with all of them, but then I can't play 44 players.
"I usually protect the lads, but one of the most disappointing things over the three recent defeats is that I don't think they have been strong enough mentally. I had a go at them after a defeat at Reading a few years ago and it worked. We'll find out whether it works again."
After the expletives following that 4-0 First Division defeat at Elm Park in 1997, Sunderland mounted a ferocious clamber up the table only to be denied in the play-off final by Charlton on penalties. Yet that disappointment spurred promotion and the two seventh-place finishes that set the daunting standard Reid has failed to meet since. Even victory over Villa may not guarantee he retains his job, with a trip to the champions Arsenal awaiting next week.
Manchester United received a boost last night after Paul Scholes confirmed he is hoping to play some part in his club's trip to Charlton Athletic tomorrow. The midfielder required exploratory surgery on a knee injury early last month and Alex Ferguson had anticipated being without Scholes until mid-October at the earliest.
Roy Keane, recovering from the hip operation he underwent less than a month ago, is expected to step up light training in the next few days.
Bolton defender Ivan Campo has had his red card against Arsenal wiped out after a change of heart by the referee. Campo was sent off for two bookable offences during Bolton's 2-1 defeat against the Premiership leaders.
