Three-and-a-half years on, and Howe has been as good as his word. Since losing his first cup match to Cambridge United, the Magpies head coach has presided over 23 matches in domestic cup competitions. Newcastle have won 19 of them, with one of their four defeats coming in a penalty shootout with Chelsea and another being the loss to Manchester United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
By comparison, Howe’s predecessor, Steve Bruce, won just five of his 13 cup matches, with three of those wins coming against Rochdale, Morecambe and Oxford United. Rafael Benitez, in his three full seasons in charge, won six out of 14 cup games.
Yes, the wait for a first domestic trophy since 1955 goes on. But a club that was once a byword for embarrassing underperformance in cup matches have now become knockout specialists. A second Carabao Cup final appearance in the space of three years will arrive in March, and after Saturday’s success over Birmingham City, Newcastle are now just two wins away from another Wembley visit in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
“The priority was always to try to get through,” said Howe, whose decision to make nine changes for Saturday’s fourth-round tie was a reflection of the hectic schedule Newcastle have had in the last couple of months rather than a statement on where the FA Cup sits on the list of priorities. “We really didn’t want to go into extra-time, but we would have done that if that was what was needed to progress.
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“We wanted to get it done, and we needed to keep the momentum going. We needed to keep the feelgood factor around us. We had everything to lose on the night, really, so it was a great response from the players after the high of Wednesday.”
Howe’s decision to make wholesale changes provided some of Newcastle’s fringe players with an opportunity to prove their worth. Joe Willock was the big winner, revelling in a more advanced attacking role down the left-hand side and scoring two crucial goals, the first of which was controversial, with referee, Matthew Donohue, and his assistant, Nigel Lugg, determining the ball had crossed the line when it was parried by goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, and the second of which was decisive, with Willock driving home after Sean Longstaff’s cross had been blocked.
It was also a big night for Callum Wilson, who was making only his third start of any description since the start of 2024. Remarkably, the 32-year-old scored only his second ever cup goal for Newcastle when he hooked home from close range midway through the first half, and having recovered from his latest injury setback, he delivered a timely reminder of his enduring attacking qualities.
Alexander Isak will clearly be first choice in the remainder of the season provided he remains fit, but in Wilson, Howe finally has a viable alternative to the Swede.
“Callum’s a really valuable player for us,” said the Magpies boss. “It seems like the art of goalscoring with strikers is diminishing. I don’t see a huge number of strikers in world football that can do what Callum can do.
“The big thing for us is, ‘Can we keep him fit and keep him on the pitch?’ But there’s no doubting his ability.”
Lewis Miley also caught the eye at the heart of midfield, improving as the night wore on as he drove Newcastle forward in the closing stages, but against spirited League One opposition, who were on an 18-game unbeaten run prior to kick-off, it was not a night when everything went to plan for the visitors.
Defensively, the Magpies had a number of shaky moments, conceding within the opening minute as an unmarked Keshi Anderson teed up Ethan Laird for a volley that deflected off Wilson and finding themselves beaten again as Tomoki Iwata fired home a sensational long-range strike towards the end of the first half.
Emil Krafth looked rusty as he returned at centre-half, while Sean Longstaff had a difficult night in central midfield, giving the ball away with alarming regularity, particularly in the first half.
The sight of Dan Burn trudging off with a groin issue shortly after the interval was a worrying one, especially as Sven Botman was not considered for the game because of a knee problem of his own, with Newcastle’s failure to make a single signing during the January window leaving them vulnerable to a spate of absentees. Keeping key players fit is likely to be the single biggest factor determining how things go between now and the end of the season.
“I think that’s probably going to be the key thing for us,” admitted Howe, whose side will learn the identity of their fifth-round opponents when the draw takes place tomorrow. “You can talk about it, and of course we’re aware of it, but you can’t necessarily control it.
“We’ll try to do everything we can to keep everybody fit, try to control the minutes (in matches) and training. We’ll do all the right protocols behind the scenes. We just don’t want to go back to where we were last year, when we couldn’t really control our strength. We got hit several times, and obviously that weakened us massively last year. Hopefully, that’s not the case again.”
