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Lee Ryder

'Mind boggling' - The scary thing about Newcastle United and Eddie Howe

It's scary to think that Eddie Howe is yet to see his Newcastle United team put together what he'd consider a complete performance.

There's no doubt about it, the 4-1 win at Fulham was impressive but it was also heavily influenced by Nathaniel Chalobah's red card and subsequently United pushed through a door that was left ajar at Craven Cottage. In a season littered by draws - five already - a little bit of quality might have Newcastle even higher up the table.

True, Newcastle have had bad luck with VAR in some games too but when it's 11 vs 11 they are yet to sew together two quality halves of football. The good news is all the signs that will happen soon are there for those who watch Newcastle closely.

Playing against a shorthanded Fulham side in London saw Howe push his team on to storm into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to goals from Callum Wilson, Miguel Almiron and Sean Longstaff. The second half was always going to be a less intense affair and so it proved as Almiron's second was followed by a Fulham consolation.

But with 11 points from eight games, Newcastle now have a solid platform to build on. Howe will also note that he is yet to play his strongest team.

For example, Alexander Isak is yet to play alongside Callum Wilson. Allan Saint-Maximin is also yet to feature in the same team as the Sweden international.

And the old Bournemouth partnership of Ryan Fraser and Wilson is yet to get going again. That's frightening when you contemplate that Miguel Almiron has now brought his A-game to the table in the win against Fulham and Jacob Murphy showed that he still has something to offer.

Then there is the Joe Willock factor. Willock hasn't scored yet this season but looked close to his best with two assists and a midfield display full of running at Craven Cottage. Imagine Willock can get back on the goal trail?

Bruno Guimaraes is also yet to get a good run at playing in a more advanced role in midfield. The mind boggles when you think of the potential at United these days.

Throw in the fact that Jonjo Shelvey - who brings balance to the midfield as the deep-lying playmaker - is yet to play because of injury and you really can visualise a strong Newcastle outfit capable of pushing hard at that top eight.

For all the Newcastle have won just two from eight matches, only a late, late stoppage time win for Liverpool has denied United a result this season. Even Man City couldn't beat Howe's side and had to fight back from 3-1 down to gain a point.

It took Newcastle until December 27 to get up to 11 points at home to Man United last season. But here they sit comfortably on that tally now with 30 games to play.

OK, let's not get too carried away. But let's also believe that good things can happen if Howe continues to set his team up in such an entertaining style.

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