Pressure on Mitchell and Eales as Toon enter huge week - and the in-house options for Howe

Whilst four points from the opening two games is a solid enough start, and the resilience and will to win shown to beat Southampton with 10 men was impressive, there are valid concerns amongst fans.

On and off the pitch, the whole club feels like it needs an injection of positivity after a summer of upheaval and uncertainty.

CEO Darren Eales is a man in need of a big win in the next few days, to prove he is capable of filling Staveley and Ghodoussi’s shoes, whilst an elite signing or two would not only improve the side, but also give a much needed illusion of solidarity and collaboration between Howe and Paul Mitchell.

On the pitch, what has been a concern in our first two outings is how poor we have looked on the ball at times. In both games, Southampton and Bournemouth looked not only technically superior to us, but more worryingly, it begs the question, do other teams have us sussed out tactically? It certainly seems so.

The blueprint for the opposition is clearly to press us high, and neutralize Bruno. If they do that, the players currently available seem to lack the technical quality to look after the ball and play through the press. Krafth and Burn are solid enough Premier League players, but clearly lacking on the ball, which ends with our midfield receiving the ball with their backs to play, and then all manner of mistakes and tomfoolery occur. It also doesn’t help when Joelinton seemingly decided he’d play as badly in midfield as he did up front like he did on the south coast, while clotheslining opposite goalkeepers wasn’t on the tactics board either, surely.

The good news is the remedy to this is already in the squad regardless of what business we do this week. The imminent returns of Schar, Tonali and then Botman further down the line can’t come quick enough, and the difference they can make to our ball retention is monumental.

Events at Bournemouth are concrete evidence that the quality to be better is already available, and if Howe is to be criticised for his starting set up, he got his substitutions spot on. It was also further proof that despite his off field indiscretions, Newcastle just aren’t currently a good enough team to simply dispense with Kieran Trippier, who along with Hall, Willock and Barnes, transformed the team when they came on. In my own personal opinion, they should all be starting when fully match fit.

The right-winger issue is just becoming tedious. Despite his shows of public affection for Almiron, Howe knows as well as any fan that it’s a position that needs an upgrade. Whether Anthony Gordon wants to play on the left is irrelevant, despite the apparent need to tread on eggshells around him after the Liverpool links. The simple fact is him and Harvey Barnes are vastly superior wide forwards to Murphy and Almiron, and surely a front three of Gordon, Isak and Barnes is the way forward. The former Leicester man has been in for some outrageously unfair criticism on NUFC social media recently, and he showed what he provides, which is simply end product.

So we need to keep the faith, but Mitchell and Eales need to deliver this week on signings, and Howe needs to beat Forest on Wednesday.

It can be done.

HTL!