Eddie Howe was right to call for progress on Newcastle’s off-the-field projects - and not because their tangible existence will one day aid him directly.
He knows the lifespan of a manager will unlikely extend to the multiples of years it will take for stadiums and training grounds to be built. Rather, what he understands is the immediate power of the message their development can send - be that to those within or without.
One of Alexander Isak’s motivations for wanting to quit Newcastle was doubt over the height of the club’s ambition and pace of its infrastructural delivery.