The game had finished two hours previously, but there were still dozens of Newcastle United supporters waiting by the gates of St James' Park for Eddie Howe to emerge as the Magpies' head coach got out of the black Range Rover and posed for selfies.
Howe has received remarkable backing from the fanbase and is desperate to repay that support following another damaging result in Newcastle's bid to stay up.
Saturday's 1-1 draw against Watford had, perhaps, been the biggest missed opportunity of Howe's reign to date as the Magpies passed up the opportunity to move out of the relegation zone for the first time since September following Joao Pedro's late equaliser.
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Having taken the lead in the 49th minute, following a superb individual goal from Allan Saint-Maximin, Newcastle, inexplicably, retreated against a Watford side who were there for the taking - just as they so often did under predecessor Steve Bruce.
Newcastle, as a club, are changing off the field - a chief executive and director of football will be appointed before the season is out - but the Magpies are still waiting for true lift off under Howe on it. Just six points have now been claimed from must-win home games against the Hornets, Burnley, Norwich City and Brentford.
If Newcastle are to stay up, they are going to have to do it the hard way by picking up more points on the road, which the Magpies have yet to do under Howe, and by beating the best sides in the division.
To even have a chance of doing so, Newcastle are going to need further quality signings - ideally before Saturday's huge game at Leeds.
After all, the last time these two sides met in front of supporters at Elland Road, back in 2016, Karl Darlow, Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett, Jonjo Shelvey, Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle all started for the visitors.
The septet helped Newcastle get out of the Championship later that season but they have been called upon at various points by Howe - more than five years after that fixture took place.
As much as that is a tribute to this core group, who have helped keep Newcastle in the Premier League for many years, it also highlights how much the Magpies have over-relied on these individuals and, indeed, those who followed.
This group have long needed help and you have to go back three-and-a-half years for the last time Newcastle even signed a centre-back as other positions simply had to be prioritised to comply with the restrictions of the Ashley era.
Long-term contracts were handed to long-serving players and it was a make-do solution for an owner desperate to sell up.
Newcastle's squad has been left imbalanced, as a result, and Howe has sought to bring in players like Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood to give him more options, but this overhaul is going to take time.
Newcastle do not just need a top centre-half, but many more players besides. For example, in an ideal world, Howe would love to sign a midfielder either now or in the summer who could help give his side more control in games.
Bournemouth averaged 49.28% possession during Howe's previous five campaigns in the Premier League, but Newcastle have had an average of just 39.44% of the ball in the top-flight under Howe.
Yes, Newcastle had more possession when they played Watford, Leicester City and Brentford, but they never looked like making the most of it.
Newcastle are simply not used to imposing themselves on other teams - that is not a new problem - and you only had to look at what happened when Howe's side had 72% possession against Cambridge United to realise that.
Newcastle looked at their best under Howe against Manchester United, which was a standard setting performance, as the Magpies played with a remarkable intensity and hurt the Red Devils on transitions.
Trippier was among those who took note of that performance and, as keen as the England international was to bring his family back to the north, do not underestimate Howe's influence in convincing him to leave Atletico Madrid after the pair previously worked together at Burnley.
"From when he first took over, obviously, I've watched a lot of Premier League games and you can see the difference in the sense of being on the front foot, attacking," Trippier told BBC Football Focus on Saturday.
"I know how the manager wants to play from playing for him before and what he demands in training, games and, most importantly, off the field as well. He's a big reason why I came here because he's a great manager."
However, that 1-1 draw against Manchester United did not prove a turning point and the last two games against Cambridge and Watford have brought struggling Newcastle right back down to earth.
Newcastle are simply not scoring enough goals - Howe's side had had just one shot on target against Watford - and that, coupled with a leaky defence, is a recipe for going down.
Howe is doing all he can to avoid that outcome, of course. As well as being a builder, who changed the face of Bournemouth, one of the reasons Newcastle's owners turned to Howe was because he was 'not afraid of relegation'.
Although Howe was not seen as a firefighter in the mould of, say, Roy Hodgson, the former Bournemouth manager had previously been involved in his fair share of relegation battles.
Howe ultimately kept the Cherries up in four of his five seasons in charge in the top-flight and vowed he had learned lessons from going down in his final campaign at the Vitality Stadium ahead of coming in at Newcastle.
The Newcastle players had all been briefed, or warned, about what to expect by Callum Wilson, Matt Ritchie and Ryan Fraser but those first few days of training proved a welcome shock to the system. Some even had to resort to going to bed early.
Howe has been desperate to get more out of the players at his disposal and Joelinton, for one, has risen to the challenge of adapting to a new role.
As much as Howe is keen for his players to become more comfortable on the ball, and play attacking football, the importance of hard work, punctuality and discipline have been driven home.
Howe has looked to lead by example in that regard, clocking up 12-hour days on the training ground, and the players have all noted how he is on his laptop immediately analysing games on the journey home from away days.
While Newcastle have only won one game under Howe, the players have enjoyed the sessions and a change in approach. Indeed, rather than focusing too much on the opposition, Howe prefers to highlight how his side can hurt opponents and that stance has not changed, whether Newcastle are facing Man City or Watford.
It is an approach club insiders believe will bear fruit, but Howe knows Newcastle simply need results now. Changing that protection mode mentality may be easier said than done.
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