Newcastle United's ambitious owners don't need a reminder that there is still plenty of work to do before they can genuinely rub shoulders with the Premier League's big boys.
At Spurs, nobody can say that Newcastle didn't put up a fight and had they went in with the lead at half-time after Fabian Schar's blockbuster they would have been worthy of it in the capital. It's what happened after that which will concern watching co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi as well as the club's wealthy backers in Saudi Arabia.
Ghodoussi branded the defeat against Spurs as a "bad day" and he's right after things went from bad to worse at Spurs' plush stadium. But the heavy loss must also be kept in some type of context. There were always going to be a few days like this.
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However, had anybody offered club officials the scenario Geordie fans woke up to on Monday morning back in December then of course we'd have all taken it. Sitting nine points clear of the relegation zone with eight matches to play is still a positive position when you go back to the early days of Eddie Howe.
A 1-1 draw at home to Norwich left Newcastle looking doomed with seven points on the board and it all to do in the remaining 24 matches. That they have turned it around in the 16 matches that have followed is a big credit to Howe and his backroom staff.
It is very much a case of Howe having credit in the bank after the recovery he has led since the bleak pre-Christmas days that left us all wondering whether a third Premier League relegation was on the cards. And let's put it another way, no matter way Newcastle stay up this season is a good way.
My own personal view is they won't splutter over the line like they have in days gone by and the series of home games against Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers can provide them with the four points they require to seal that top-flight place.
Howe inherited a mess when he bravely took on the challenge of keeping Newcastle afloat. That doesn't make him exempt from critics but there also has to be a dose of reality chucked in here.
The former AFC Bournemouth is slowly reshaping the squad and it is going to take time for United to go toe to toe with the big guns of the division. For now the 44-year-old must work with what he has at his disposal.
A summer shake-up has to wait and after inheriting Steve Bruce's squad only last November and coming into a club that scrimped and saved for year on end the struggle is real sometimes. Given the tally of players that were acquired to A) Get Newcastle promoted in 2017 and B) Signed to stabilise the team in 2018 and 2019 stands at double figures in a 25-man squad, days like Spurs are inevitable.
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