Newcastle United were 3-1 up against West Ham, but Eddie Howe was not finished yet. Far from sitting back at the London Stadium, the Newcastle boss went for the throat in the 64th minute and threw on Joe Willock, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak.
Newcastle have a lot of work to do this summer, of course, but to put that depth into perspective, the trio cost an estimated £128m in transfer fees if you include add-ons. It is hard to think of a more expensive triple substitution in the club's history and they all made an impact. It was Gordon, for instance, who won the ball back with a sliding challenge on Emerson in his own half in the build-up to Isak scoring Newcastle's fourth while Willock, a thriving survivor from the Ashley era, also gave the visitors fresh impetus in the 5-1 rout.
With injured top scorer Miguel Almiron the club's only absentee at the moment, Howe now goes into games knowing he has players sitting behind him who can either change matches or turn the screw. That is what has happened in each of the last four fixtures which, far from coincidentally, Newcastle have finished strongly and won.
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It was Almiron who came on and won the game at Wolves; Elliot Anderson gave Newcastle a shot in the arm when he was introduced at half-time at Nottingham Forest; Callum Wilson sealed a memorable victory against Manchester United as a late substitute; and composed replacement Isak scored a goal few could at West Ham when he calmly lifted the ball into the net after pouncing on Lukasz Fabianski's mistake.
In truth, such is the competition for places at the moment, these players have made an impact before they have come on with those in the starting line-up knowing there is someone pushing to take their place. Howe even occasionally waits for the moment to formally introduce his subs, when they have been stripped and readied on the touchline for a few minutes, as a visible reminder to his starters that they could be coming off. That element of doubt can give those on the pitch a second wind just as they tire.
Yet, whether they start or not, these individuals all know their jobs and can plug in the second they come on. Regardless of how many minutes the players are on the field, they are doing all they can to 'add value' as winger Jacob Murphy told Vibe this week because there is a 'feeling that no one wants to let anyone down'.
Howe has instilled that mentality in the group. No one wants to be on the bench but, if called upon, those in reserve are desperate to help their side over the line rather than sulking. You only had to look at Almiron and Isak's respective reactions to being rotated at Wolves and West Ham to realise that and substitutes have never been more important when Premier League managers can now make five changes.
Newcastle assistant Graeme Jones even told the group who was on the bench first before naming his starting line-up ahead of his opening game in interim charge last season because 'you don't win with 11 players'. Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, recently revealed substitutes are called impactors at Arsenal. Although Howe has not 'introduced any terminology' at Newcastle, that is certainly how the Magpies head coach sees it, too.
"I do believe in that," he told reporters. "The word substitute can sometimes have negative connotations. For me, they will probably be even more important in the future as football progresses. Certainly with the speed of the game and how quick the game is getting now, they will have more relevance on the pitch."
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