ST JAMES' PARK, NEWCASTLE — Bad games in football are all relative. Sometimes, a player will be unfairly maligned by fans. On other occasions, a perfectionist in the heat of battle will berate themselves when they're doing just fine.
But every now and then, there's an unequivocal howler that leaves a person under the harshest glare of the most unwanted spotlight.
Last weekend, Nick Woltemade had one of those. The Newcastle United striker made no impression on the Tyne-Wear derby in an attacking sense. Not ideal against your local rivals, but that can happen. What's less common is when that marginalised attacker comes back to help out in their own penalty and inadvertently buries a header into their own net. What's worse is if it's the only goal of the game.
That was Nick Woltemade's experience last Sunday when Newcastle played bitter rivals Sunderland in the Premier League for the first time. The Germany international was the unexpected toast of the Stadium of Light when the Mackems enjoyed a triumph their fans will toast for generations.
"Yeah, it was an interesting week," he said, before offering a matter-of-fact assessment. "Last week wasn't a great game from me and it didn't feel really good that I scored an own goal.
"You just have to deal with it. In football, this can happen. Obviously, in a derby it doesn't feel good, but it's part of the game. I scored an own goal and was the bad guy in the game. That's part of football and, of course, I wanted to keep going."
Woltemade comes across as the sort of level-headed personality most sportspeople view as an ideal. Not too high for the good moments and not too low for the bad. He was perhaps able to treat those two impostors just the same because he was speaking to reporters after the catharsis of a first-half brace during Saturday's 2-2 Premier League draw against Chelsea.
"Today, I wanted to give it back [to the fans]. I'm really happy to play at a club like this, with so many positive messages, confidence in the stadium," said the former Stuttgart star. "I'm really thankful for the fans and really happy about this. I have to say thank you to the Newcastle fans."
Woltemade conceded he had been blown away by the positive encouragement shown by Newcastle supporters after he was their derby day villain. The fact that his double in the Chelsea game took him on to seven in his debut Premier League season probably helps.
"It's not normal that [the Newcastle fans] respond like this. You hope it, of course. I was really happy about this and I wanted to score the goals today," he said, having crashed home on the rebound after just four minutes before dispatching a deft volley from Anthony Gordon's curling left-wing cross.
"I think you saw that I had confidence today. Part of that confidence was also because I knew the fans were still behind me. I can see what my Instagram was – it was just positive, good messages. There's been too much [to reply] to be honest, but I saw a lot. I just want to say thank you to everyone for texting me. Today I could see as a player that you also can give back."
It marks a huge contrast to the vitriolic situation Woltemade was parachuted into as a to in August – Alexander Isak's bitter and acrimonious exit from St James' Park. The Swede's replacement now feels like he is part of a the Geordie Nation, despite Newcastle's overall patchy start to the campaign. The 23-year-old seems confident that dark days like the one he experienced at the Stadium of Light will be few and far between.
"I think this is the Newcastle family, to be honest," Woltemade added. "After the [Sunderland] game, my teammates spoke really well with me. Of course, you hope for this as a player but, just to say again, I'm really, really happy to play in a club like this. It gives me a really good feeling and I just want to give [that feeling] back."