Hope is alive and kicking at Newcastle after all. Just as Eddie Howe’s players seemed to be sliding towards mediocrity, a place in the Carabao Cup’s last eight has changed an entire narrative.
Quite apart from creating the tantalising possibility of securing a long craved piece of silverware and, with it, a backdoor route into Europe, this cup run is helping to camouflage the offstage tensions that have contributed to Newcastle’s latterly disappointing Premier League form.
