Early winner: Eddie Howe and a masterclass in crisis management

Eddie Howe has transformed Newcastle since January, but not using the methods many expected…

Newcastle fans have the team they craved at the turn of the year. But it hasn’t come in the way they, or anyone else, expected.

The 1-1 draw at West Ham epitomised the woefully-needed improvement the Magpies have made in recent weeks. At the London Stadium, Newcastle, shorn of arguably their three best players, went toe-to-toe with the Champions League-chasing Hammers and left disappointed with the point that they would gleefully have taken before kick-off.

“If we get our off-the-ball plan right, then we can compete with anyone,” said Howe before kick-off and his players executed it almost perfectly, but for one frustrating lapse at a set-piece when Craig Dawson strolled in to head the hosts in front.

That easily-correctable flaw aside, Newcastle were hugely impressive, maintaining the form that has seen them go undefeated in six, taking 12 points from 18 to haul themselves out of the drop zone and further reassure the Toon Army that everything will be alright after all.

Howe has to take the bulk of the credit for that improvement. It was assumed that if Newcastle were to get out of trouble, then the January window and their new owners’ wealth would be the biggest factor. Not so.

The manager has sparked a revival the old-fashioned way – on the training ground rather than in the transfer market. The players who dropped Newcastle into the sh*t are dragging them out of it.

Some savvy recruitment has certainly helped. The back four was beyond help in the form it took prior to last month but Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Matt Targett have made the ropiest rearguard suddenly look solid.

Trippier was absent at the London Stadium, and he