Newcastle United's £15m 'mistake' as questions asked after 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest - five things

Newcastle United suffered a 3-1 Boxing Day defeat against Nottingham Forest at St James' Park - here are five talking points from the match.

Bruno in the middle, Botman at the back & Isak in attack

Newcastle welcomed Sven Botman back to the starting line-up for the first time in the Premier League since the 8-0 win at Sheffield United in September. The Dutch defender has recently returned from a troublesome knee issue but has now been involved in each of the last four matches for The Magpies.

Botman's return came at the expense of Jamaal Lascelles, who dropped out of the side entirely against his former club due to injury. Alexander Isak also came back into the starting line-up for the first time since the defeat at Tottenham Hotspur in place of Callum Wilson, who dropped to the bench.

Joelinton returned on the bench after two games out with a hamstring injury as Newcastle's midfield three remained the same as the 1-0 defeat at Luton Town on Saturday with Sean Longstaff, Lewis Miley and Bruno Guimaraes.

It's the first time Newcastle have lined-up in-keeping with the 'Bruno in the middle' chant in the Premier League since the 2-1 defeat against Liverpool in August - The Magpies' only home defeat in the league this season heading into the Boxing Day encounter.

Newcastle United's Boxing Day woes

No professional English side has lost more matches on Boxing Day than Newcastle United. Not a stat you would have wanted to hear heading into a crucial clash at St James' Park.

The Magpies went into the game having lost 11 of their last 14 Premier League games on December 26 but did stop the rot last season with a 3-0 win at Leicester City. Chris Wood opened the scoring for Newcastle that day, but now lined-up at St James' Park for Forest.

Aside from their poor Boxing Day record, Newcastle could take some comfort from their impressive top-flight record against Forest. In 10 Premier League meetings heading into the match, The Magpies were unbeaten with seven wins and three draws. A run that has now ended thanks to Wood.

Chris Wood comes back to haunt Newcastle

After Newcastle took a deserved lead through Alexander Isak's penalty following a foul from Ola Aina on the Swedish striker, Forest looked capable of causing their hosts problems on the counter-attack.

Anthony Elanga appeared to have the beating of Dan Burn down Newcastle's left side and Martin Dubravka had to be alert to make a couple of smart stops.

But as Newcastle pushed to make it 2-0, some poor decision-making from Miguel Almiron inside the Forest penalty area allowed the visitors to counter. From there, Elanga played a low ball across goal for Wood to tap into a virtually empty net to make it 1-1.

And just like that, it was all to play for heading into the second half - it was just a matter of which team would take their opportunity. That would prove to be Forest and Wood as the striker had the beating of Dan Burn before dinking the ball into the right corner of the goal to make it 2-1 to the visitors.

There was still more to come from the 32-year-old who was often goal-shy during his time on Tyneside as he beat the offside trap before rounding Martin Dubravka to net his hat-trick. If only Newcastle saw this Chris Wood in black and white.

A player deemed surplus to requirements at Newcastle less than 12 months ago was now running his former side ragged after they've flogged two partially-fit strikers without a third option to come in and ease their load in recent weeks. Selling Wood for £15million to Forest was not a mistake, failing to replace him was.

Reflecting on his triumphant return to St James' Park, Wood said: "This is a tough place to come. The boys did extremely well.

"I don't mind where I score! It is nice coming back to Newcastle, I really enjoyed my time here, it is a great bunch of lads and staff."

A rare off-day at St James' Park

Newcastle's Premier League defeats at St James' Park under Eddie Howe could be limited to Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal heading into the Boxing Day match. The Magpies had lost just once on home turf in the league all season and in many ways, it had papered over the cracks of their dismal away form.

But their recent troubles on the road were brought back to St James' Park on this occasion as Forest ended a run of seven games without a win to beat the faltering Magpies. It was also Forest's second away win in the Premier League this season.

The defeat was Newcastle's sixth in seven games and proved their vulnerabilities can translate back on home soil. With it, the fear factor that surrounded Howe's side even as little as a month ago seems to be quickly dissipating.

The Magpies lost five league games throughout the whole of last season - that's the very high standard that they set themselves. Only Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa managed to pick up three points against them in 2022-23.

Now, each of the last four sides they've faced starting the day in the Premier League's bottom four (AFC Bournemouth, Everton, Luton and Nottingham Forest) have picked up three points with relative ease.

Newcastle have gone from a side no one looks forward to facing to one any side will fancy their chances against at the moment. And with Liverpool, Sunderland, Manchester City and Aston Villa coming up - that doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon.

How do Newcastle turn things around?

That's the big question heading into the second half of the season. Howe and his players have so often found answers and bounced back over the past two years, but this period is the former AFC Bournemouth manager's toughest spell since his arrival.

A gifted 3-0 win against 10-man Fulham aside, there has been little response to the set-backs suffered against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, Chelsea and Luton - a response to the Forest defeat doesn't feel like it will come against a Liverpool side Howe has lost his last 11 consecutive matches against. Newcastle's vulnerabilities have been exposed in recent weeks and whether Howe can find the answers could prove decisive in Newcastle's season, which feels like it has derailed heading into 2024.

There have been no suggestions that the January transfer window will be a busy one for Newcastle, largely the opposite. At the moment it feels this squad is in dire need of an injection of quality to galvanise it heading into the second half of the campaign.

Whether that comes from players returning from injury, a new signing or some serious work on the training ground, a vast improvement is required quickly.