Ridiculous to sublime: Burn's heady header eases pain of Hammer horror
Newcastle United delivered a routine Champions League win and, at the halfway point in the first stage, they are sixth in the League league. The headlines were all about a header on Wednesday night after Dan Burn met Kieran Trippier's elegant set-piece delivery, putting a beautiful bit of swazz on a fifteen-yard nut... we grabbed Sir Les Ferdinand (!) for some expert analysis.
It all pushed the terror of West Ham away to the back of our minds for a brief spell, but with a trip to Brentford coming up this weekend, the Premier League PTSD is kicking in.
Away from the football, Chief Commercial Officer Peter Silverstone will be swapping the black and white of Newcastle for Turin when he joins Juventus after serving a period of gardening leave. Revenues have trebled under his watch, but could more have been achieved?
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PotT Matchday: West Ham (a); late Halloween nightmare
We haven't felt like this in a while; perhaps not since West Ham (h) last season. It's possible today was even worse than that. Was it our worst performance under Howe?
Despite playing a team incapable of winning at home, despite the air of mutiny amongst home fans in Stratford, despite going the length of the field in 26 seconds to take the lead after Bowen hit the post early, Newcastle somehow contrived to lose on the road again!
There's bad, then there's worse, then there's several hundred feet of excrement, and then this. Commence the inquest.
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Carabao characters: Newcastle loving the league cup
Hallowe'en it may be, but love is in the air on Pod on the Tyne this week.
George loves the pub. "Don't we all!?" you say. Not this much. He REALLY loves the pub. Eddie Howe's team love the league cup, and they love beating Spurs at St James's Park. They usually love going to West Ham as well (fingers crossed).
Taylor loves Sandro Tonali. And Fabian Schar. And Bruno. And the rest of them, tbf. But, mostly he loves Sandro Tonali.
Newcastle's three sporting titans, the Magpies, the Eagles, and the F... Red Bulls, put together what (in the interests of a convoluted metaphor) we're loosely calling a coach-matchmaking service to share tips and tricks as they develop the next generation of Northeast sporting talent.
Chris loves sausages.
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Matchday PotT: Fulham (h), Bruno's late booster
Newcastle after a Champions League fixture; not a pretty story on the whole. That's not to say they painted a beautiful picture on Saturday at St James's Park, but they got the job done.
Captain Bruno arrived late in the box, late in the day, to follow up Osula's saved effort and find the corner. It provides a huge boost to a team still finding its feet this season, and hopefully a platform for a fruitful trio of games against London teams.
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Becky Langley departs, Benfica dismissed, but Sandro stays (sort of)
Sad news this week as Becky Langley, the pioneering head coach of Newcastle's women's team, was relieved of her duties. We hear from Amanda Staveley on Becky's legacy.
Sandro Tonali's stay at Newcastle already has a longer shelf life after it emerged he signed an updated contract during his twelve-month gambling ban.
And, after Eddie Howe's slightly re-arranged eleven put Benfica to the gravy sword, we consider who might take on Fulham on Saturday and whether we can replicate the last two European results in the Premier League.
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