How dare anybody use the £90million spent in January to diminish the achievements of Eddie Howe this season. It is easy to forget the scale of the task at hand for the former Bournemouth man when he waltzed through the door last November.
The 44-year-old took over a side that were second bottom, winless, five points adrift, unfit and devoid of all confidence. Yes, the money spent in the winter helped plug the gaps that had been neglected by the previous regime. When Howe started Matt Ritchie and Jacob Murphy - two wingers - in a flat back four against Manchester City, it signalled to the owners that a pair of full-backs were needed.
A striker and centre-half, too, given the severity of Callum Wilson’s injury and Newcastle’s defensive woes. Chris Wood and Dan Burn arrived but they are hardly the Harlem Globetrotter signings rivals fans would have you believe given the reaction to the Magpies’ surge towards Premier League survival.
