Newcastle still have one huge question mark as old guard saved Howe’s skin ...Middle East

Newcastle 3-1 Brighton (Osula 12′, Burn 24′, Barnes 90+5 | Hinshelwood 61′)

ST JAMES’ PARK – This one had a bit of everything.

For the Eddie Howe enthusiasts, proof of his enduring ability to conjure big moments when it matters. A risky team selection, turning back to trusted lieutenants over more talented teammates, paid off and the crowd sang his name lustily a couple of times in front of a beaming club chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and the rest of the PIF bigwigs.

There was even a question about Europe in the post-match press conference – seven days after he was asked if they were safe from relegation.

It’s been that kind of season and you came away hoping that, exhilarating as this win was, no one is fooled into thinking they’ve discovered a blueprint for future success. Because it was also a nerve-shredding, scrappy sort of second half that suggests there is still so much work to be done if Newcastle are to meet the lofty aims of their ownership.

In the short term, though, it feels like the win gave us some certainty over Howe’s position. Newcastle’s hierarchy have stressed privately that no one has a “free pass” to underachieve but it’s never felt like there’s any enthusiasm for making a change either. No alternative plan has been worked up, no managers quietly tapped up. Belief in him remains, as long as Howe is prepared to make the necessary adjustments and accept the club’s recruitment pivot.

That stance is all well and good but it needs wins to give it credibility. So defeat against Brighton felt unthinkable and the fact Howe admitted afterwards that he was up during the middle of the night on Friday suggested he sensed that too. For a normally sound sleeper, it was a telling admission.

It was fascinating, then, that when he needed a win he turned to his old faithfuls. Howe is adamant he is ready to change his approach but when the pressure is on, his tendency is to revert back to what he knows. So Dan Burn kept Lewis Hall out at left-back, Jacob Murphy remained at right-back and Joe Willock – another survivor from the Steve Bruce era – was handed a role in front three that you’d never have guessed back in August would have been finishing the season.

It didn’t feel much like a team for the future but it did the trick in the present day. Will Osula, who really is getting better, opened the scoring with a header from a brilliant Murphy cross and then Burn glanced a Bruno Guimaraes corner past Bart Verbruggen, one of Newcastle’s goalkeeper targets for the summer. That eased the anxiety after a challenging start and suddenly the Magpies had their energy and zip back again.

In a season of second-half dips, Brighton threatened to inflict more late pain. Jack Hinshelwood prodded past Nick Pope, who had another Jekyll and Hyde afternoon, and then Yankuba Minteh missed from five yards. But Newcastle didn’t buckle for once, and a late Harvey Barnes goal was greeted with a wave of relief and euphoria around St James’ Park.

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Howe won this battle and with it cast aside any lingering fears that they could be dragged into the relegation fight. But it would be churlish to suggest Newcastle have answered some of the deeper questions about what got them into this mess – and how they can get out of it.

Al-Rumayyan’s presence this week has focused minds. He was in the dressing room after the win reassuring the players about PIF’s big plans and ambition. Howe repeated that “exciting times” are ahead for the club. But it can’t get lost in the joy of victory that things have to change.

Experience was the answer on Saturday but perhaps relying on it in recruitment and team selection has been part of the problem this year. Difficult decisions await and Howe’s willingness to make them might decide whether the problems of this season are a temporary blip or stretch into next year.

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