Here's a midweek edition of the notebook with Newcastle United left with plenty to reflect on during the international break
Newcastle United have a date in the diary for their Carabao Cup fourth round tie at Everton's impressive Hill Dickinson Stadium.
The tie against David Moyes' side takes place on Thursday, October 29 with a place in the last eight of the competition up for grabs on the banks of the Mersey. It could be a night that goes right to the wire with penalties possible to decide who lines up in the quarter-finals.
But Newcastle will get even greater backing than usual after the Magpies were allocated 7,732 due to EFL Cup rules which say that 10% of the capacity must go to the visitors. However, Everton have granted Newcastle 15% of their 52,679 home venue with all those tickets certain to be snapped up.
The visit to the 2025-opened stadium will be only United's second after their emphatic 4-1 win on Merseyside last season in their first ever appearance at the Hill Dickinson. And the Carabao Cup tie will be the first of two games against the Toffees in just five days with the Premier League meeting at St James' Park offering either side the chance of instant revenge.
Andy Howe's exit marks the end of old recruitment model
The exit of Eddie Howe's nephew this week came hard on the heels of Steve Nickson's departure to Wrexham earlier this summer. Newcastle knew that Nickson would be on his way back in June before the ex-Blackburn scout worked his gardening leave after he came to the decision that his future lay elsewhere.
Eddie Howe's decision to quit was always going to have implications for Andy Howe, with sporting director Ross Wilson looking to put his own stamp on the club's identity. With Wilson approaching his 12-month anniversary as sporting chief, he is now expected to use the exits of two longer-serving figures on his backroom to refresh the club's approach to recruitment.
The get-together of scouts on Tyneside this week was not only a chance to discuss targets and positions, but also to start to implement a new outlook on the club's transfers. That will be apparent in the next two windows, but the policy of signing younger stars with Sean Steur's £23milliom move from Ajax an excellent example of how Newcastle are looking to operate moving forward.
Wilson went on four personal scouting missions to check out the Dutch youngster and determine whether he was first-team ready or not during some tough fixtures in Holland's top-flight.
Newcastle still hold dressing room inquest after Hull win
The Magpies held on for a nervous three points against the Tigers on Saturday at St James' Park to sign off before the international break on a high.
There was nothing wrong with the way Newcastle stormed into a 2-0 lead against Hull, and the truth is that they should have had the game wrapped up by the break when Yoane Wissa missed from the spot after failing to add to Lewis Hall and Joe Willock's goals.
After the game, there was a discussion behind the scenes about how that could have been a game that Newcastle would have lost last term after dropping 27 points from winning positions. But it was agreed within the squad that Newcastle must ensure they don't let things slip when in a commanding position going forward this term.
Hall said after the game: "We let them get back into the game, which we need to look at. It was a mixture of our own doing and a good finish from their guy. When the score is 2-1 you know where the game is going to go - it's just about the mentality."
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