Why Newcastle’s bubble has burst, writes CRAIG HOPE… they looked flat against Southampton until Fabian Schar red and Joelinton cracker sparked their season opener at St James’ Park into life

In the fourth season under Saudi Arabia, the first substitution made by Newcastle United was Emil Krafth for Jacob Murphy, two players bought by Mike Ashley for Steve Bruce and Rafa Benitez.

This is not a slight on either player. Murphy has regained his top-flight career under Eddie Howe and was a worthy starter. Krafth came on when Fabian Schar was sent off after half an hour and helped the team secure a convincing 1-0 win.

But the change served to highlight the current situation at the club, especially on a day usually reserved for excitement and anticipation surrounding new signings. Newcastle had no one in the starting XI.

One supporter offered an apt analogy Saturday night, saying: “We thought we were riding a rocket ship. This is more like a delayed train.”

St James’ Park only caught fire after Schar’s incendiary sending off, when Ben Brereton Diaz went down as if he had been hit by a bullet and not the defender’s forehead. The perceived injustice brought focus and energy. Before that, all was flat, both on the pitch and in the stands.

Why? The black and white ball has gone a little flat in the 12 months since they started the season with a thumping 5-1 win over Aston Villa. That day, Sandro Tonali scored a goal worth £52m just six minutes into a fascinating debut full of style and substance.

Harvey Barnes, who paid £38m, also came off the bench to score. With a Champions League campaign ahead of him, Tyneside seemed the centre of the football universe. The rocket had taken off.

A year later, the situation was very different. Apart from the £28m loan of Lewis Hall from Chelsea, the only money spent since then has been £10m on William Osula, a 21-year-old forward who was a non-playing substitute.

Spending rules – and poor financial management at their own expense – have forced them to sell exciting prospects such as Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson.

They also considered selling star winger Anthony Gordon to Liverpool, and he didn’t perform well here.

Popular co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi have left (their presence was missed in the stands) and even Eddie Howe’s future is uncertain.

The manager has put his relationship with new sporting director Paul Mitchell and performance director James Bunce on a trial basis.

The remaining two weeks of the transfer market will be crucial in this regard. All of this contributed to generating a strange feeling of despondency ahead of Saturday’s match.

Perversely, Schar’s sending off was what Newcastle and the occasion needed, and Howe admitted as much afterwards.

But the last hour should not obscure what had happened before, as it was revealing as to the mood of the players and the fans. No one was on board a rocket.

Perhaps a couple of new signings will change the mood, and the fact that they managed to get the win thanks to Joelinton’s goal and a colossal display in midfield at least gives them a solid start, even if it is on shaky ground.

This summer, Newcastle have been given a dose of reality. There had always been an illusion that they had arrived as permanent guests at the top table of European football.

That doesn’t mean they can’t return to the Champions League this season.

They have a wonderful coach and wonderful players.

But the dust seems to have settled on a club that was taken to the moon in the first few seasons under the new owners. The train is now at a fork in the road.