Newcastle United contract decision has already paid off as St James' Park pays tribute to key departure

Fabian Schar was controversially given his marching orders against The Saints before Joelinton scored the only goal of the game to give The Magpies an opening-day win at St James’ Park.

Here are five talking points from the game...

Bruno Guimaraes captains Newcastle United to victory

Bruno Guimaraes led Newcastle into the new season as captain. After being appointed into the five-man leadership group, the Brazilian was handed the armband to for the season opener.

With Jamaal Lascelles and Callum Wilson injured and Kieran Trippier benched, The Magpies had only Guimaraes and regular pre-season captain Dan Burn as the recognised ‘leaders’ on the pitch against Southampton. And after a slow start to the game, Guimaraes led by example in the second half with a defensive performance Eddie Howe described as ‘so good’.

It wasn’t the typical high-quality technical and creative display Guimaraes is known for but rather a dogged and tenacious defensive effort to help Newcastle secure the three points despite being under the cosh for the majority of the game.

On Guimaraes’ performance, Howe said: “Yeah, really pleased for him because I think whenever you're wearing the armband, you want your team to win. I felt that pressure as a captain before.

“It does add a bit of weight to your own performance. And I think for Bruno, I think, The defensive side of his game was just so good today.

“I think it's something you probably associate more with maybe with other players in our squad, but Bruno's defensive performance today was as good as I've seen.”

Newcastle United supporters issue heartfelt thanks after major summer departure

A Wor Flags display before the match at St James’ Park paid tribute and thanked Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi following their departure from Newcastle this summer. A flag dedicated to the couple with ‘thank you’ was unveiled in the Strawberry Corner area of the stadium.

Staveley quickly took to Instagram to respond to the message as she posted: “I am both humbled and grateful for all the heartfelt messages of support today: I read every one, and wish I could reply to you all personally.

“Seeing pictures of the stadium today made me cry - thank you to Wor flags for all your incredible work today and over the last few years. I know better than most, the incredible work you all put in at every game. Our fans are the best - and there is nowhere better than StJames’. I will always be your Geordie girl… Wor Mandy 🖤🤍.”

Matchday captain Guimaraes responded to Staveley’s message by commenting: “One of us 🖤🤍.”

Newcastle United transfer priority highlighted as Fabian Schar sees red

After a lacklustre start to the match, Newcastle were dealt a major blow as Fabian Schar was shown a straight red card for violent conduct after clashing with Ben Brereton Diaz. It was a stupid dismissal in every sense with play already stopped before Schar was provoked by the Southampton forward by being pushed to the ground.

The Swiss centre-back got back to his feet and went head-to-head with Brereton Diaz, who promptly dropped to the ground in supposed pain. In reality, the Saints man had got one over Schar as the Newcastle defender was sent off despite minimal force and contact being made.

Schar will now miss the next three matches with Newcastle’s need for a central defender in the final weeks of the transfer window made all the more pressing. The Magpies have prioritised signing Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi but have so far struggled to find a breakthrough despite their fourth and most recent proposal being worth in the region of £65million, a club record fee.

While Schar’s sending off could spark Newcastle into life in the transfer window, it did have a galvanising impact on Howe’s side against Southampton on Saturday. The Saints had been the better team in the opening half-hour but the perceived injustice of the sending-off saw the home crowd quickly get into the game and Newcastle end the half the stronger of the two teams.

In that period, United took the lead as Alexander Isak pounced on an Alex McCarthy mistake to set up Joelinton to give his side the lead with 10 men. That gave Newcastle something to hold onto for the second half as the side put in a resolute defensive display to see out the win and clean sheet to open the campaign.

Regarding Schar’s suspension, Howe hinted that Newcastle may appeal the decision. But given a VAR check didn’t overturn Craig Pawson’s on-field call, a successful appeal seems unlikely.

No new signings in Newcastle United starting XI as Anthony Gordon still getting up to speed

Newcastle started the season with no new arrivals in the starting line-up with Lloyd Kelly and Will Osula on the bench. Goalkeepers Odysseas Vlachodimos and John Ruddy weren’t part of the matchday squad.

Kieran Trippier was also named on the bench with Tino Livramento preferred at right-back for the season opener.

Discussing his team selection, Howe said: “It's trying to bring the best team to win this game. Assessing all the fitness levels of the individuals concerned.”

Still, Howe named Anthony Gordon as Newcastle’s starting winger despite playing just 45 minutes in pre-season. The 23-year-old was named the club’s player of the season last campaign but still looked rusty for the start of the new campaign after minimal preparation time.

And Howe suggested that Gordon, among other players, should be back to his best in the coming weeks.

Joelinton shows what Newcastle United had been missing

While there were question marks over the fitness and performance levels of some members of Newcastle’s squad on Saturday, there was no question over the quality Joelinton brought to the midfield to start the new season.

Having missed the majority of the second half of last season due to injury, the Brazilian was back to his barnstorming best against Southampton and was the best player on the pitch before his well-taken goal on the stroke of half-time.

Joelinton displayed just what Newcastle had been missing for extended periods last season with a steely determination in midfield that proved crucial in securing the win.

Newcastle pulled out the stops to secure Joelinton to a new deal while he was still recovering from injury last season but it looks to be a worthwhile investment based on his opening-day display and what he brings to the side. The thought of losing him this summer, which at one stage seemed like a possibility, is now unthinkable.