The chess pieces have moved at St James' Park this summer. A backroom realignment has triggered a soft reboot of the Saudi-backed takeover as PIF and Co plan to get Newcastle United back on track.
The big news is Amanda Staveley's departure, the Wonder Woman-like figure who brokered the PS300million deal almost three years ago. PCP Capital Partners - her private equity firm alongside husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi - has diminished its shares over time and is set to part ways completely this summer.
Dan Ashworth's departure to Manchester United left a sour taste. He promised a project, but left after less than two years and, with it, forced a rethink among the Toon hierarchy.
Paul Mitchell succeeds him as sporting director with a stellar CV and has already started shuffling the pack. James Bunce, one of his trusted lieutenants, worked under him at Monaco and Southampton.
A guru in sporting performance, the 34-year-old previously worked in the US and for the Premier League. He has been drafted in to alleviate an injury-prone squad that spent a staggering 1,950 days on the treatment table.
Speaking to Monaco Life in 2022, Newcastle's latest recruit Bunce outlined his philosophy - hinting at how he can give Howe's side a mental edge next season. He said: "Everyone looks at sport from the neck down.
"I wouldn't say that (physical work) is favoured deliberately over (mental work). Everyone concentrates on the neck down and looks at sport from the neck down. We have become very good at monitoring the neck down: physical outputs, training loads, accelerations, sprinting and duels won.
"We're good at looking at that. Not deliberately, but I think we often overlook the mental side because it's really hard to evaluate. It's really hard to train and to teach, and to have objective moments in that."
"However, even if you anecdotally look back and listen to players and coaches speak after games, a lot of them will talk about a mental attribute that either helped them or caused the problem. 'We switched off, we weren't at it, we didn't put the effort in, we weren't motivated'.
"So it's an ironic situation where we talk about struggling with mentality, but we don't train it to anywhere near the same extent as we do other things. So that's why psychology for me is one of the most under-tapped advantages in football and even in the wider sporting environment."
Bunce also opened up about how he works in tandem with Mitchell. Developing "champions" remains the key - a mindset in total alignment with Howe's training techniques.
"Psychology for us is about getting a competitive advantage but also trying to develop our players to be the best they can be. That means on and off the pitch, trying to develop champions."
On the eye, the move appears a match made in heaven. After an underwhelming campaign, a slight reset can rejuvenate the camp. Newcastle have been proactive - tackling their injury concerns head on. The club was bereft of ambition before the current crop came along - it certainly has that now.