Eddie Howe was not done yet. Joelinton had just put Newcastle United 3-0 up against Aston Villa, but Howe was still waving his players forward from the touchline. Howe could smell blood at a rocking St James' Park and the Magpies head coach was not about to show the visitors mercy.
Miguel Almiron went on to score a stunning fourth goal midway through the second half and, in the end, it could have finished 6-0 after Callum Wilson and substitute Jacob Murphy both hit the woodwork late on. Newcastle had 20 shots all told; Villa, in contrast, were unable to muster a single effort on target or even win a corner.
Howe is never satisfied, and constantly pushes for more, but even the Newcastle boss told his players after the game that he enjoyed watching that second-half display. After a frustrating, stop-start opening 40 minutes, Newcastle simply blew Villa away.
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It is the second time in three weeks Newcastle have hammered a side at St James' by a four-goal margin, following a 5-1 win against Brentford, and it certainly won't be the last. What a contrast to 12 months previously.
On this day a year ago, after all, it was a very different story for the winless Magpies. Bottom of the table Newcastle had 21% possession and just one shot on target in a 3-0 defeat at home against Chelsea and, like Villa, failed to even have a single corner.
Remarkably, there were only two survivors from the starting line-up that day in the XI 364 days on: Sean Longstaff and Callum Wilson. Fabian Schar, Miguel Almiron, Joe Willock and Joelinton, who are all key players now, were all on the bench against Chelsea, which shows the strides they have made since then.
Interim boss Graeme Jones admitted the defensive tactics he used that afternoon were 'not how I wanted to play going forward', recognising it was 'difficult' for supporters to have to watch their side play in a deep block because 'we are fighters in the North East'. Jones, more than anyone, wanted Newcastle to play on the front foot, but the caretaker was not the man to deliver that transformation in such a tiny window when the winless Magpies were scrapping for every point.
Even Howe adapted when he took charge - Newcastle eventually became an effective counter-attacking outfit - before the black-and-whites evolved into a side more in the head coach's image last summer. Yes, money has been spent - around £210m in 2022 as a whole - but Howe and his staff have overseen a remarkable turnaround, which has seen inherited players hit new heights.
The stats tell their own story about Newcastle's shift into a more attacking outfit. No other side in the Premier League have scored more goals from outside the box than Newcastle; no team have hit the woodwork more often; only Liverpool have put in more crosses; only Brighton have played more through balls; and only Liverpool and Man City have had more shots.
Yet, perhaps, what has been most impressive is that ambition has not come at a cost defensively when Newcastle had previously struggled to strike that delicate balance. In fact, Newcastle have the meanest defence in the division, after conceding just 10 goals, and Howe's side have also kept the most clean sheets.
The scary thing is you feel Newcastle are not at full tilt yet. Jonjo Shelvey, Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak all have to come back into the starting line-up, but they might face a challenge to get their places back at this rate. That is how good Newcastle have been.
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