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.
