EDDIE Howe was delighted to mark a visit from Yasir Al-Rumayyan with a win - but the head coach admitted he turned the air blue in a brief conversation with Newcastle's chairman after the dramatic victory over Nottingham Forest.
For the first time since watching the win over Tottenham back in September, Al-Rumayyan was in attendance at St James' Park on Sunday to witness the rollercoaster 4-3 success against Newcastle's fellow Champions League-chasing rivals.
The Magpies recovered from conceding an early Callum Hudson-Odoi goal to race into a 4-1 half-time lead, only to make life extremely difficult for themselves in the second half when Forest clawed two back.
But United held on to climb to fifth in the Premier League and are now just three points behind third-placed Forest.
Howe wasn't sure of the reason for Al-Rumayyan's visit but was pleased to see the chairman - even if talks between the pair immediately after the game were fleeting.
"I spoke to him very briefly after the game, just for 10 or 15 seconds before coming to see you," said Howe.
"I'm not 100% sure (why he's here), it was just good to see him."
Asked what was said in that brief chat, Howe laughed: "A couple of swear words from me about the game, I think.
"He was in the same emotional state as I was about the game, so it was a nice moment."
Howe added: "He's very invested in the football club, he's on top of everything. It was definitely great to see him."
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Howe will pick the bones out of the good and bad of Sunday's display and, while frustrated with the second half showing, said it was a "massive win" for his side.
"It was a crazy game," he said.
"We've seen the best of us and the worst of us, really, in two 45 five minutes.
“I thought we were outstanding in that first half, everything that we weren't against Manchester City in our last game: dynamic, fluid, played with speed intensity, we sprinted. We attacked really well.
“But we didn't sustain it in the second half. We lost momentum and then couldn't recapture it.
"But there's always relief when you win. It doesn't matter whether you're one goal or five goals up.
"We have to remember we did win the game, even though the feeling is probably very different after watching the second half.
“The challenge that we need to pose each other, really, as a group is to find solutions in those moments to help the players. That's what I'll go away now and try to figure out.
“This has happened too many times this season, where we've been inconsistent game-to-game, but we've been inconsistent in-game as well.
“Ultimately we've won the game, so I have to be very, very pleased. That was a tough game – we knew it was going to be – but the players were magnificent in their response to conceding, so loads of good stuff to take away and of course some stuff to improve."
