Newcastle United's January rebuild may be a bigger job than their new owners initially thought.
The Magpies, flush from their takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in October, fell to a 1-0 defeat to League One's Cambridge United in Saturday's FA Cup third-round fixtures.
Joe Ironside's close-range finish in the 56th minute eventually sunk the Premier League side and soured Kieran Trippier's Newcastle debut. Dimitar Mitov's excellent save in stoppage time denied Joelinton a dramatic equalizer.
New Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan flew in from the Middle East to attend the match.
"I did think all the way through the body language was good and the attitude was good from the players. I've got no issue on that. We prepared and the players desperately wanted to win," Newcastle manager Eddie Howe insisted after the match, according to Sky Sports.
Martin Dubravka, Fabian Schar, and Ryan Fraser produced four-out-of-10 performances, while Jonjo Shelvey lost the battle in midfield against the nouveau-riche club's modest opponents, according to the post-match ratings from The Chronicle's Lee Ryder.
The Magpies have won just once across all competitions this season and are two points adrift of safety in the Premier League's relegation zone.
Cambridge won at St. James' Park after a three-game winless run. The U's are 16th in England's third tier.
