The Barack Obama poster. 2008. You know the one. Hope. This last week, the stylized red, beige and blue face in the poster should have had the dial of Matthias Jaissle on it. Even the most miserable supporters have turned into spring lambs.
Something different. A new approach. New fangled. Newcastle 2.0 and all that.
Pretty hard then really for one bizarre pre-season kick about to kill all the buzz. No football club in the world pour cold water over your rampant over expectations like Newcastle do, and against Everton at Murrayfield, they just about managed to extract any positivity like a dentist struggling with the final bits of a problematic tooth.
Don’t get me wrong. Nothing has changed. Newcastle are starting again and ten or so days in the job isn't enough time for Jaissle to have made much impact. He just met his probable new captain on Monday. He probably doesn't know everyone's names, let let alone know what makes them tick.
The trouble is we know the players. We know which players didn't perform last season and we know exactly which ones we can rely on and which ones we can't build a new team around. So to see us doing the same mistakes we did last year over the course of two 45 minutes and dare I say it, do as much sideways and backwards and playing ourselves into bother as we did last season, you can sort of see why people were streaming for the exits way before the end.
If only I got a tenner for every time I heard the phrase "It's going to be a long hard season”, I might have been able to stop the night in ‘Auld Reekie’ rather than scuttle back over the border after some alcoholic post mortem.
This was a rare treat. Edinburgh was actually really hot. The East Coast Main line was packed to the gunnels with black and white shirts (not the new one). A sight as beautiful as looking out on the cliffs between Berwick and Eyemouth.
Once there and you hit the heat, the fringe and the tourists and you realise how much of a bizarre concept this game really was. Two mid table Premier League teams slugging it out at 30 degrees at a cavernous Rugby ground in rush hour. The fact that ticket prices had been slashed was a kick in the balls for the people who'd paid 40 quid plus a few months back. But in reality what were we thinking anyway?
With the bottom tier only open and the goal nets seemingly dropped 30 yards into the pitch, entering the ground didn't change the weirdness of the game. Everton fans were fairly outnumbered but I can't be arsed to get at them for that. It's too early for crowd one-upmanship. Maybe they just used their heads and gave this a wide berth.
Newcastle started with Horníček, Shahar, Thiaw, Botman, Hall, Bamba, Joelinton, Touré, Elanga, Wissa and Osula. In a lilac kit. How many kits have we got by the way?
We started ok. Wissa tried to lob Travers (not Pickford) before blasting over, and a mistake by Everton almost let in Elanga but his shot was saved.
Everton woke up though and started dominating possession as we started to give the ball away when we did have it and sat far too deep when we didn't. They took advantage just before the half-hour mark. Despite two very good challenges from Hall (the best thing he did all day, looking out of sorts apart from that) the ball fell for Barry to squeeze in. Neither Botman or Thiaw covered themselves in glory earlier in the move.
The second was a penalty not long after. It looked anything but one from where I was sitting, as Dewsbury Hall saw Joelinton coming a mile off and the ref bought it like the tourists bought pictures of highland terriers from the gift shops of Princes street. Ndiaye struck in the second.
Ten players were changed at half time. For me, Joelinton and Toure looked the pick of the first half ones. Botman struggled for pace and Bamba was trying way too hard, unfortunately.
The second half saw us line up with Horníček, Miley (M), Charlton, Johnson, Pivas, Steur, Ramsey, J Murphy, Willock, Barnes and Woltemade.
Everton quickly got back into their rhythm and after a few penalty appeals they got a third as Tyrique George finished well. Low and hard past Horníček.
We huffed and puffed after that as the solar eclipse took over people's minds. The ground went eerily into dusk mode and gave the hundreds of little floodlights some work to do on a summer night which had rendered them redundant.
As for the second half first teamers… Well, for God’s sake, have shot Woltemade. It won't kill you. And we had this up and coming winger that put over some blinding crosses. I liked the look of him. Jacob someone. Might want to tie that one down. From one of his crosses Barnes expertly finished for the most consolation of all consolations.
It was a rare bright spot on eclipse night.
It's a pre-season game. Nothing more. Everton have played more games and looked as David Moyes as they've ever been. Solid, compact and serene. Everything we didn't. But can you expect anything else in these embryonic days of a new coach? No.
I want us to be chomping at the bit against Liverpool in a fortnight, not tonight. But I remember last year seeing us dismantled at Parkhead and it being a sure fire sign things were not hunky dory.
Newcastle needs to step it up this weekend or hope will have left the building just when we really need some. We also need quite a few new players. But when do we not?
As ever more questions than answers.
Scott Robson