Howe has revitalised Newcastle through good old-fashioned coaching

Newcastle United are heading for mid-table safety but, for all the money spent on players, the game-changing arrival has been the manager.

After Newcastle United’s 3-1 win against Everton on February 8, manager Eddie Howe sought to temper expectations. “It’s two wins, nothing has been achieved,” he told the press. “We’re very happy with what we’ve delivered in those two games, but now we have to focus on the next one.” A month on from that match, the run has continued. Newcastle have now won five of their last six matches, and the fears of relegation which haunted the first half of their season have now all but evaporated completely.

There are, of course, asterisks and qualifiers and they certainly aren’t everybody’s ‘second favourite team’ anymore, but what has been notable about Newcastle’s improvement over the last couple of months is that it hasn’t come about solely because of Saudi oil money. The new owners’ munificence in the January transfer window led to them spending more money than any other club in Europe during that particular time, but although that is an eye-catching headline, it doesn’t really reflect the way in which Newcastle operated in the transfer market during that breathless month.

There was what some might consider a ‘marquee signing’ in the form of Bruno Guimaraes, though his appearances in the team have been relatively limited. The key player, in terms of influence over the team, has been Kieran Trippier, whose move for the relatively low price of £12m may leave some other Premier League clubs wondering why they sat on their hands. Not all of the new transfers have been successful; we continue to wait to see what the tangible benefits of spending £25m on Chris Wood might be; his arrival doesn’t