Newcastle United manager John Carver has laid into his players after they succumbed to a 1-0 defeat away at Sunderland in Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby.
The game was decided by Jermain Defoe's vicious volley on the stroke of half time as the Black Cats made it five wins in a row against their bitter rivals.
Carver told BBC Sport: "We were abysmal in the first half. We were poor. I always say a side of mine will give 100% but were second best in every department. It wasn't good enough.
"Every day on the training ground I am the most positive man you will ever meet, I don't put shackles on anyone, I want them to be exciting, but for whatever reason we were so negative out there.
"The back four is a makeshift back four and they deserve a bit of credit but the other units of the team weren't good enough."
Newcastle remain 13th in the Premier League table following their derby defeat, while Sunderland climb to 15th.
Giuseppe Labellarte
