MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - AUGUST 19: Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Amanda Staveley co owners of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Newcastle United at Etihad Stadium on August 19, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi in 2024
We Geordies have been spending our days with noses pressed to the tuck shop window watching enviously while others gorge themselves on goodies.
We want our share of transfer market activity and patience has not seemed like a virtue but a drain on hopes and aspirations.
In fact there is still much time - the best part of two months - but nevertheless silence has become as noisy as alarm bells because we are so anxious to become a permanent top four club that recently released ambition has run away with us.
It is only natural - the promise of caviar after stale bread and margarine is deliciously tempting. However as we wait for a taxi load of signings to join the black-and-white push for glory there is another matter that needs seriously addressing by those who hold the ultimate power in Saudi.
While most fans have been pleased to see take a greater hands-on approach to transfers, helped greatly by Steve Nickson and Howe's nephew Andy, the fact that United are jostling with the Premier League elite devoid of a sporting director appears not just unfortunate but ludicrous.
Dan Ashworth and were both passing strangers their period of employment was so short and with CEO Darren Eales going as well Newcastle have to get their act together behind the scenes. There is no continuity at a crucial level in the chain of power. It is like standing on shifting sands.
We all know United desperately need new recruits for their Champions League campaign but they equally need new faces - permanent faces - in key admin posts if they are to continue to grow. The turnover at player level is not high enough but it's too high at the other level. Balance, my friends, balance.
Jason Ayto, who was Edu's valued right hand man, is a leading contender for United's sporting director role following his departure from Arsenal at the end of the season.
So too, it seems, is Nottingham Forest chief football officer Ross Wilson. Be it either of them or someone else let it happen soon. Let everything happen soon.
Howe needs help and needs a strong relationship with his sporting director. Trust is the key word. He wasn't particularly close to either or Mitchell (Amanda Staveley was his go-to person) but then he hardly had time to forge a true bond. It has to be third time lucky come the next appointment for everyone's sake.
Truth is United have never had an automatic bridge between boardroom and the wider fan base since and husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi left last year.
Not important? I beg to differ. Any organisation benefits from good communication between owner and customer. Indeed it is the basis of growth through understanding.
The spotlight is inevitably on the playing side as it always is in football because it is the most important cog in the business but if United don't have rock solid foundations then the castle can crumble.
So much good work has been done so quickly since the takeover in October 2021, a blink of an eye away, but it is is danger of stalling. What has been achieved by Eddie and his players during a period of uncertainty behind the scenes is quite amazing.
Our first domestic trophy in 70 years and a fifth top finish to catapult us back into the Champions League is to be admired and envied. However odds cannot continue to be defied . . . desperately need signings both on and off the field.
We are more than grateful for what we have received and we know the Saudis are ambitious because they don't join any project for the unpredictability of the ride but if we are all to continue to be satisfied then what progress is made during the rest of the close season is of paramount importance.
This is not a period of inactivity because the PL is taking a rest but a time when the immediate future is determined.