Malky Mackay felt his side could have earned a point against Newcastle after his sides second half display but the poor first half cost his side the match as the visitors won 2 - 1.
He said: "We gave ourselves too much to do, if you give a good team time and space as we did in the first half you can be punished and we were.
"We were what Cardiff City is all about in that second half, we were excellent and on another day could have had a point. But we cannot start like that against a good team with good players."
Mackay, meanwhile (as reported by www.sportinglife.com) confirmed a dispute over bonus payments between his players and owner Vincent Tan has been settled.
Reports had suggested Tan was reluctant to pay end-of-season bonuses in May next year, but that a compromise had been reached.
Cardiff issued a statement in which chief executive Simon Lim said: "Our 2013-14 bonus discussions were concluded in September ahead of the Hull City game and, as a club, we are all focused on the Premier League season ahead.
"Our collective aim is to bring success to Cardiff City supporters."
When questioned on the situation Mackay said: "There has been a statement from the club on what you are talking about. I have not read it, but there has been a statement put out in terms of the bonus situation. That has been sorted."
It has also been suggested Cardiff's players are no longer happy for Tan to be present in the dressing room on matchdays.
While he did not state whether the Malaysian had been banned, Mackay confirmed he did not go into the changing rooms after the defeat to the Magpies, while Cardiff's players did not stop to speak to reporters following the game.
Alan Pardew was delighted that his side bounced back after two defeats in a row.
"I think it was an important win, on Monday night we let ourselves down as a group and we wanted to put it right," he said.
"We started doing that in the second half at Everton but today we put in a really good display.
"The first half was as good as I have seen us play, even going back to the year we finished fifth, we locked them in, we had a more offensive look to us.
"We did not play as well in the second half but we at least showed resilience that when the home team put pressure on us we can cope with it.
"I am pleased with how the whole group conducted themselves, how the players who were left out conducted themselves and it's been a good day for us."