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Newcastle United chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan watched on as Eddie Howe and his side bounced back from a frustrating transfer window with a 2-1 win.
Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at St James’ Park with Harvey Barnes and Alexander Isak scoring either side of a Dan Burn own goal. It sees The Magpies continue their unbeaten start to the new season after four games.
“It was a really tough game,” Howe said afterwards. “Second half in particular. I thought first half was pretty even but we came under pressure, I thought we defended our goal really well.
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“A great response really from the players, from the guys that came on the pitch to find a way to win. It's so difficult to win in this league, especially if you're not at your absolute best and we're finding a way to do it.
“So it's great signs, but we know longer term, we're going to need to improve our performance. Hopefully now all the off-field talk can disappear and we can focus on the pitch and the players that matter.”
Newcastle head into the international break unbeaten but it follows a very frustrating summer in which the club didn’t make any major signings.
“Well, it's massive and you need to win at any stage, but I think when there's difficult moments and this transfer window has been tough for us,” Howe added. “I think it's even more important because it just enables you to see things clearly and to move forward with positive momentum. Hopefully we can do that.”
After a turbulent summer off the field, Newcastle chairman and PIF governor Yasir Al Rumayyan was in attendance at St James’ Park.
“No [I haven’t spoken to him],” the Newcastle boss continued. “But I hope to catch up with them afterwards.
“Challenging [summer] in one word. Challenging because we knew going into the window, it was going to be challenging and it proved no different. The only thing I can do is tell you my feelings and that'll be the same for everyone connected with the club.
“There's no one in a different position who's connected with the club that's wanting to do as good a job as we all can and try and improve the squad, it was challenging. But by not spending the sums that maybe was expected hopefully, that helps us in future windows.
“I don't know as I sit here today hopefully, that gives us a bit more freedom in the future to be a bit more proactive.”