Had the Magpies been able to include an engaged and interested Isak on Saturday, they'd have won comfortably at Aston Villa.
But will Isak ever be engaged and interested at Newcastle again? And is there possibly a way back for a striker who was the subject of such a vocal and angry show of of dissatisfaction from the supporters at full-time at Villa Park?
The reality is, it wasn't necessarily specifically Isak who Newcastle missed on Saturday, but more generally a natural centre-forward. A centre-forward who would have gobbled up the headed early chance for for Anthony Gordon, who would have buried the one-on-one missed by Anthony Elanga or who would have instinctively been in the right place at the right time as Newcastle flooded the Aston Villa box after Ezri Konsa's second half dismissal.
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Head coach Eddie Howe described Newcastle's failure to turn their dominance into goals as "unfortunate timing", given the Isak situation.
And he felt two takeaways that might seem obvious were too simplistic and not necessarily fair.
Was this evidence of the fact you need a striker, he was asked.
"That's very tough on Anthony who I thought played very well today," he replied.
"He was a consistent threat. Induced the red card by his pace and running ability, so it's no slight on him whatsoever. I thought he was very good.
"When you look at the scoreline, goals were the only thing missing. But we can score goals and have to score goals in different areas. We always have done. That's through midfield, our wide men, set plays. We have to find a way to add goals to the group."
The other obvious conclusion - and one made above: Newcastle would have won this game with Isak - a committed Isak - in the side.
"I don't think it's the narrative we want to go down," said Howe.
"It's easy to say but we don't know if that's the case.
"Of course you're going to miss someone who's scored the goals that Alex has. Not just the goals but the calibre of player he is, so we're not silly enough to think any different.
"But we have to talk about the players that are here and what they've given. It's easy for the players to have a feeling of negativity going into the game or an excuse there ready, but there was no sign of that in our performance."
Nudging the £150m problem to one side for a moment, this was a hugely encouraging opening day for Howe, whose Newcastle side suffocated and dominated Aston Villa and limited the home side - direct rivals - to very few chances. Villa's xG was 0.13.
Dan Burn was immense and marshalled a defence that frustrated a timid Aston Villa attack. Ollie Watkins would have surely scored if he was in black and white. You never know, he might be in a month's time.
Sandro Tonali was the game's best player in Newcastle's midfield. And while the attack was inevitably judged on the fact the Magpies fired a blank, Gordon, Elanga - who combined to force Konsa into the foul that led to the red card - and Harvey Barnes caused Villa problems with their speed and tireless running.
All of those who started or came off the bench were committed and looked unaffected by the absence of their teammate. And at full-time Newcastle's supporters made sure to show their appreciation first to those who were there before they turned their attention to sending a message to the one who wasn't.
"Everyone that stepped on the pitch today showed they want to be here and play well," said Howe.
"There was no sign of any psychological weakness in our performance which is very pleasing.
"It's very easy to allow our standards to drop or attention to drift, but we didn't.
"To come here and minimise them to the chances they had is a real sign of defensive solidity which is great.
"I'd rather look at the positives while acknowledging there was a gap in our performance. We didn't take that one chance we needed to win the game."
So, what happens next? Well the Magpies will hope and push for a belated breakthrough with Yoane Wissa this week after Brentford completed the signing of Dango Ouattara.
But Wissa was wanted before the Isak eruption, and was identified as a replacement for Callum Wilson rather than the Sweden international. Another striker will have to arrive for Isak to get his wish.
Will that happen before Liverpool visit? Unlikely.
Howe said his "relief" at such a positive display at Villa Park would last only a couple of hours before his attention turns to Liverpool.
But he can at least take satisfaction in knowing that the situation didn't disrupt his players on the pitch on Saturday.
Yes, they failed to score. But in playing so well, perhaps this should be seen as the day Newcastle proved a point rather than the day they dropped two.