If outsiders needed reminding of Newcastle United's new unofficial motto, the words were there in black and white in the Leazes End before kick-off last Sunday. "We're not here to be popular," the banner quoting Eddie Howe read underneath Wor Flags' huge surfer depicting the Magpies boss. "We're here to compete."
Newcastle backed up that statement once more following a hard-fought 1-0 win against high-flying Fulham at St James' Park. It was the kind of match Newcastle might not have won not so long ago, but the hosts managed to find a way to get a result after Alexander Isak's 89th-minute winner sent Howe's side back up to third in the table.
Newcastle, once again, had to show both sides of their game against one of the Premier League's form teams after Fabian Schar spoke about how 'sometimes we don't have to be nice' ahead of this match. Whether it was Joelinton listening in on fellow Portuguese speaker Marco Silva delivering instructions to his Fulham players in a huddle in the first half or Burn throwing a second ball to Nick Pope as the visitors waited to take their penalty, Newcastle have long developed a streetwise streak that has been crucial to the club's turnaround.
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The stats, as ever, tell their own story. No side has kept more clean sheets (11) or conceded fewer goals (11) in the Premier League this season than Newcastle while the black-and-whites have kept five consecutive shutouts in the top-flight for the first time in the club's history. Newcastle have not let in a first-half goal in a Premier League game since August and Howe's team have not gone behind in the top-flight for four months.
When Newcastle take the lead these days, the Magpies tend to see the game out and they have only dropped five points from winning positions this season. Even then, those matches were against Man City and Liverpool way back in August.
What a contrast to the previous campaign. At the halfway point of last season, Newcastle had only kept a single clean sheet in the Premier League while the leaky Magpies had also conceded 42 goals. With such a soft underbelly, Newcastle ultimately threw away a whopping 24 points from winning positions last season, which was the difference between finishing 11th, as they did, and fourth.
Those were numbers Howe and his staff were desperate to improve and this is where smart recruitment has proved crucial. Indeed, the estimated £67m Newcastle spent on Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn and Sven Botman in 2022 was still less than what some of their rivals have shelled out on a single defender or goalkeeper in recent years. For all the criticism Newcastle have received for spending big, Manchester United splashed out £80m on Harry Maguire; Liverpool paid £75m for Virgil van Dijk; and Chelsea splurged £72m on Kepa before recruiting Wesley Fofana for an additional £70m last summer.
It is one thing buying these players, though; quite another turning them into a cohesive unit. Yet, tellingly, it is worth noting that one of Newcastle's most consistent performers has been a defender Howe inherited: Fabian Schar. As Schar told ChronicleLive of the club's transformation a couple of months ago: "They changed everything. Just the feeling in the team, the mentality, is completely different."
This side now live for clean sheets and you only had to look at Botman's angry reaction when Newcastle last conceded a goal in the Premier League to realise that. Newcastle may have still won 4-1, but Botman was furious that his side had let in a late goal against Southampton at St Mary's.
Each outfield player has played their part in the months since in Newcastle's historic run of top-flight shutouts and the whole team are so well-drilled that every man - from one to 11 - knows their job out of possession. Pope, as a result, is now one of the least busy goalkeepers in the Premier League after 'only' having to make an average of less than three saves per game in the first half of the campaign.
"It's been the hallmark of our success this season up until this point," Howe told reporters after the win against Fulham. "We have had a group that has given everything not to concede as a first port of call before you talk about our attacking play.
"You have got centre forwards who have worked very hard, wide men who have supported and helped their full-backs and that runs through the team. That was evident today. Nick did not really have too much to do. Of course they have had a penalty but, as a team, we have defended very well. If you can defend well, it gives you a chance to win any game and that's what happened."
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