Allow me to make two wishes as Newcastle continue their search for a second Premier League win so badly required. First can we please have the flair of Bruno Guimaraes in particular and Allan Saint-Maximin as well back double quick to unpick the lock when opponents reinforce their defences and block out the sunlight.
Perhaps ironically Bruno and Maxi were missed more here than at Liverpool where you could counter attack into open space as opposed to play against a packed and organised Crystal Palace hell bent more on rearguard defiance than consistent offensive pressure.
And secondly with a little more inspiration required than perspiration could we please see Elliot Anderson unleashed from the start in what is currently a workmanlike rather than inventive midfield. He will only get better with minutes on the field. He will only get splinters sitting on a bench!
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Yes, there is no question that United have made progress. Yes, Newcastle dominated enough to have won - they had 23 shots and 13 corners. However what is Crystal clear is that one win from six Premier League matches is not a good enough return for an ambitious club now looking up towards promised lands rather than down amid fear of relegation.
United have more draws than a bedroom cabinet. Four of them in half-a-dozen excursions onto the green grass. Maybe it is only one defeat in six but it is also only one win in six. That must be improved as a matter of urgency.
This was the most frustrating of all the draws - Brighton and Wolves were away and Manchester City last time at headquarters was an enthralling 3-3 against the habitual champions of England. By and large goals remain a problem with Callum Wilson back in the company of the physio where he spends so much time and Alexander Isak discovering what the Premier League is all about - bear traps and battle scars - after his honeymoon on Merseyside.
Chances fell like autumn rain and when at last the Palace walls were breached the wicked witch of the west, VAR, cheated United yet again. Referee Michael Salisbury was going to allow Newcastle's legitimate goal but VAR official Lee Mason intervened and sent him to the pitchside monitor. It then became an all too easy decision to award a foul on the keeper when Joe Willock was actually pushed into Vicente Guaita by Tyrick Mitchell.
So an own goal became a Palace free-kick much to the frustration of the crowd who could clearly see on the big screen that United had been robbed. We love VAR up here do we not! A beaten Guaita played the sympathy card to the full of course. He lay motionless as though felled by dynamite as helpers rushed on with a stretcher but once the referee had cleared his head for him he miraculously was on his feet ready to carry on.
Alan Shearer, even Michael Owen, declared the goal should have stood. We want to know why it did not. This is happening far too often. Oh that more referees show the guts of our top whistler Michael Oliver (inevitably a Geordie and NUFC fan) who at Nottingham Forest gave a penalty for handball, was instructed by VAR's master to consult his monitor which he duly did and then stuck to his guns.
Never mind there was still over half an hour left at SJP, plenty time to overpower average opposition, except that United huffed and puffed but failed to blow the house down. That is where we missed the midfield guile and style of Bruno and the hope that ASM always brings to the occasion. He was unplayable last time out at Barrack Road against City and when at Wolves he reverted to his infuriating shadow he still conjured up a truly world class finish to rescue a point.
One win, 11th place, West Ham away to come. Never has there been a better time to go on a victory parade. I only hope a lack of goals failed to dampen the day for two refugee families from Ukraine who were experiencing their first football match courtesy of Newcastle's Hong Kong Supporters Club.
Tammie Cheung, who I have got to know well, had purchased a match sponsorship package in the hope of coming over with others of the same persuasion from the one-time British colony to support his beloved adopted club. When he was unable to make it he donated the tickets to the Newcastle United Foundation who on his behalf invited a couple of families from war-torn Ukraine to use them.
"I was thrilled to help," Tammie told me. "I hope that Hong Kong Newcastle United Supporters Club can continue to support kids, adults, families and elderly through the NU Foundation."
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