If Newcastle United's owners were already committed, well, Sunday's Carabao Cup final defeat will have only made the hierarchy more determined to end the Magpies' drought after they were left 'humbled' by the club's incredible supporters at Wembley. In fact, Amanda Staveley did not just stop at vowing to one day lift the Carabao Cup following the 2-0 defeat against Manchester United - the Newcastle part-owner also pledged the club would win the FA Cup, the Champions League and the Premier League in the years to come.
Staveley made a similar statement in her first round of interviews following the takeover back in October, 2021 and Newcastle are certainly closer to ending the club's 54-year wait for silverware than the black-and-whites were when the owners inherited a side in deep relegation trouble. Yet there is still very much a feeling within the club that Newcastle are only getting started with so much work still to do on and off the field.
Yes, Sunday's final was a reminder of how far Newcastle have come in the last 12 months, but this painful loss also showed how far the black-and-whites still need to go to take that next step. This spirited group have already overachieved - their contributions will never be forgotten - but Newcastle are going to have to evolve in the coming years to get to where they want to go. Eddie Howe, himself, admitted that there will be 'some players that might not get back to Wembley' before the Newcastle head coach later added: "We know how and what we need to do to push the team on."
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There will be no dramatic overhaul this summer - Howe is not the type of manager to sign a boatload of players and Newcastle have to work within the parameters of Financial Fair Play - but the Magpies boss will not shirk some emotional calls in the months to come. This is the man, after all, who ruthlessly replaced number one Martin Dubravka with Nick Pope last summer and who was ultimately prepared to let Jonjo Shelvey and Chris Wood join Nottingham Forest last month even though they were such valued pros. That means nothing can be ruled out.
There are some players you can be sure will still be key figures at the club next season - from Nick Pope and Sven Botman to Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes - but others are not so assured of their places in either the starting line-up or, indeed, the squad full stop. The reality is that Howe makes assessments and judgements every day behind the scenes and the players are always fighting for their futures as a result.
That is why so much is riding on the final months of the campaign. Not only are Newcastle still in the hunt for a place in Europe - the players know every training session and every performance counts before the window reopens.
While Howe has a squad of 25 individuals to choose from, the Newcastle boss has tellingly come to rely on a core group: Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier and Miguel Almiron have started every league game; Dan Burn and Fabian Schar have lined up in all but one of the Magpies' top-flight fixtures; and Sven Botman, Joe Willock and Joelinton have all made 20 starts each in the top-flight this season. Sean Longstaff (19), Bruno Guimaraes (17) and Callum Wilson (14) are the only other players who have hit double figures when it comes to Premier League starts.
While those figures are not out of the ordinary - each club has 11 players who are used more than most - there are a host of individuals in reserve who have barely featured. As much as that is a tribute to how settled Newcastle's team has been, Howe does not exactly have a flurry of options in certain areas.
Howe's most-used substitute has been the tireless Jacob Murphy, whose effort and work rate cannot be questioned, but the Newcastle boss' reliance on the winger also highlights a lack of depth. Yes, Alexander Isak, Allan Saint-Maximin and Anthony Gordon are game-changers on their day but, beyond that, Newcastle are short in a number of areas as the 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Sheffield Wednesday proved last month when a host of fringe players failed to take their chance.
As well as Newcastle's first-choice defenders and midfielders have performed this season, Howe has had few alternatives of similar quality to freshen things up. That serves as a contrast to, say, Sunday's opponents Manchester United, who Howe acknowledged 'come from a totally different place to us'.
For all the money Newcastle's owners have spent on new signings - more than a quarter of a billion to date - Manchester United were able to splash out nearly as much (£229m) in one window last summer because of the club's greater revenues as a commercial behemoth. On the subject of that depth, Manchester United's bench for the Carabao Cup final cost an estimated £241.7m to assemble over many years and that is before you even factor in add-ons. While the Red Devils have not always spent wisely - some signings have seriously depreciated in value - that shows you the task facing Newcastle's owners in the years to come.
It is not just in the transfer market, either, that Newcastle need to build. It won't have gone unnoticed that Manchester United also had academy graduates Scott McTominay and Alejandro Garnacho in reserve, too, who have played 53 first-team games between them this season. These are squad players who have saved Manchester United millions in transfer fees and bringing through talented youngsters is going to be crucial for Newcastle moving forward when it comes to complying with Financial Fair Play.
Yet it shows how far Newcastle have come that these are the conversations we are now having. Manchester United are considered a genuine rival once more and the days of Newcastle battling it out with Burnley, Watford and Norwich City at the bottom are a thing of the past.
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