Steady, there is no need to panic. Newcastle are still sat in a Champions League seat with Tottenham tripping over their bootlaces for the umpteenth time and facing a long journey to a smarting Toon this weekend.
But, and there is always a but, there have been worrying warning signs that the Premier League's most miserly defence is creaking alarmingly.
Maybe at first glance the stats looked reassuring as United approached Villa Park _ only 21 goals conceded in 29 matches which was by far the best in the division with Nick Pope joint top of the Golden Glove standings boasting 13 clean sheets.
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However the famed and rigidly unchanged back four had looked desperately vulnerable in the first-half at Brentford where United's recent defensive record was significantly extended to nine games with only a solitary single shut out.
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Confirmation of vulnerability came in the Second City when they were ripped to shreds by the movement and finishing of Ollie Watkins to suffer a rare thrashing.
Red hot Watkins' relentless running in behind left Sven Botman and Fabian Schar corkscrewing themselves into Birmingham turf twisting and turning to try and discover where he was, an adventurous Alex Moreno tortured Kieran Trippier in front of England manager Gareth Southgate, and Dan Burn is now getting repeatedly exposed out of his natural comfort zone.
A 3-0 scoreline is big of course yet Pope actually kept it from being a landslide and that is what must worry Eddie Howe. He likes to keep things unchanged at the back to heighten continuity and understanding but the question now is can he afford to leave the same bricks in the wall.
The whole of United's last line looked exhausted both mentally and physically after a long arduous season of relentless endeavour. Pressure can be an all consuming presence.
On Grand National day United were never at the races. They were Devon Loch, famous fallers, not Red Rum and consequently continued a sad run away to Villa. This was their fourth successive defeat without scoring a solitary goal and those setbacks were preceded by back to back 0-0 draws. No goals in six Villa Park visits!
It was overall hugely disappointing and not just defensively. There was no pace in United's game and when they are flat they are dead. The Mags are best when they are fizzing, fast out of the traps, with a relentless high press.
Midfield was overrun by Villa's engine room power and up top, even when Callum Wilson and Miggy Almiron came on, they carried little cutting edge.
Anthony Gordon was particularly disappointing. This was his opportunity to state his case for regular starts, justify his £40m fee, and thank Howe for showing faith after his petulant spat last week but he blew it.
Still it is only four defeats all season which hardly constitutes a crisis. After all it had been five wins on the bounce. No knee jerk reaction required, rather a calm head, a look round the training pitch this week to see which new faces are pushing for inclusion, and then a collective determination to find home comforts. Eddie is good at that.
There is a very obvious need to bounce back of course and that need has to be addressed in the next match. Tottenham are now the Spur for Newcastle.
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