Alan Pardew says he shook his Newcastle United players up at half-time of Sunday's clash with Tottenham.
The Magpies went into the break a goal down after Emmanuel Adebayor's 18th-minute effort which forced Pardew and his coaching staff to provide a few home truths for his team.
It proved to be a clever way to approach Newcastle's subpar opening 45 minutes as the Magpies came from behind to snatch a 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane much to the delight of the manager.
"There were a few strong words," Pardew said.
"We just said to them after, it's not nice as a manager to go in and bark out orders but sometimes it's necessary just to shake people up because we needed shaking up."
He added: "We were giving too much possession to Tottenham, too much space.
"We never made a challenge and we were fortunate to come in a 1-0, so I reminded them about the fundamentals of a Premier League game and we came out with a much stronger attitude.
"I thought (in the) second half, the players were magnificent."
The victory doubled Newcastle's winning tally for the season after opening their account against Leicester City at home last weekend.
