It was a neat summary of Newcastle’s happy dilemma from here. They have been defined as serial underachievers for so long but now feels like an opportunity to forge a new identity.
So what comes next for the Magpies?
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For the club’s internationals, including new England call-up Burn, Monday was about airport check-ins or an early morning drive to St George’s Park. For the rest of the squad there is a warm weather training camp in Dubai, pre-arranged by Howe with one eye on a run-in that offers an opportunity to rejoin the Champions League elite.
They will get their moment to celebrate soon. It is understood that the blank weekend at the end of the month – it might be worth ringing Saturday, 29 March, Newcastle fans – is being earmarked for an official celebration. A sizeable drinks order has already been placed with the Town Moor – which is where Newcastle were going to celebrate had they won in 2023 – the favoured venue.
An (even more) emboldened Eddie Howe
A little insight into the genius of Newcastle’s manager. At half-time he showed his players a slide with detailed stats showing how their physical output has dipped significantly in the first 15 minutes of the second half in previous games.
It worked, with Newcastle continuing to go for Liverpool’s jugular after the break. “We have been guilty of protecting leads in the past but we just didn’t want to take a backward step,” Burn says.
Eddie Howe deserves all the praise for Newcastle’s historic win (Photo: Getty)
And what of the accusation that he is too reliant on a cadre of players he should have upgraded months ago, blinded by loyalty? It was always a load of rubbish.
Joelinton, whose career he has revived, was colossal and this felt like a triumph for that old-fashioned notion of a manager’s instinct. Howe prizes unity and spirit and believes that extends beyond the first XI. Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson came on in the closing stages. Joe Willock made a telling contribution.
They are wise to prize him. There has been interest in Howe recently – England might have progressed had he not signalled his loyalty to Newcastle, while he featured in Liverpool’s thinking – and now he has silverware on his CV it feels inevitable the club’s resolve will be tested somewhere down the line. A further contract extension (he signed one secretly last summer) to reflect the scale of his achievement might be an idea.
Psychologically it is a huge boon: the next one will not be accompanied by nearly so much nostalgia. They looked like they belonged on the stage this weekend, which is a remarkable transformation from the black and white rabbits in headlights of 2023.
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“We’ve felt the pressure but I felt it was just going to take that one time to break through that ceiling. Hopefully that’s the start of many.”
So much has been made of Alexander Isak’s future but we have moved quickly to a point where Newcastle are capable of beating the clubs he is linked with. Any Arsenal or Liverpool fan now clinging to the notion that Newcastle are the feeder club of old has surely been disabused of that idea.
Phase two is coming, with PIF’s ‘absolute’ backing
The presence of chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), was a reminder of the driving force of this Newcastle story. There is de facto state backing for the club, and from a country whose human rights record does not always stand up to scrutiny.
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Newcastle's Carabao Cup win belongs to the boyhood fan who refused to quit
Read MoreSo here’s some big news: PIF now believe they are ready to push into the next phase of the project. There will be a “significant” summer recruitment drive – a right winger has already been lined up – with a budget strengthened by the club’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) sacrifices of the last three windows.
Finalising stadium plans is in the works, too, although talk of it being done and dusted is premature. A new ground in Leazes Park could go to 70,000 seats and will be state-of-the-art, although there are those in the fanbase who think that isn’t enough for a club going places.
“The first but not the last,” Al-Rumayyan shouted to the massed banks of black and white-clad fans at Wembley as he held the Carabao Cup. Consider that in the background Newcastle are maintaining a “watching brief” on financial fair play rules that could yet be struck out. There is a sense inside the club that they are only just getting started.
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