Having had his hopes of a happy homecoming wrecked by the club he supported as a boy last weekend, Steve Bruce has tipped Michael Owen to fire Newcastle back into the Champions League.
The Corbridge-born Birmingham boss saw his struggling side outplay United five days ago but, despite an unconvincing performance, the Magpies sneaked a 1-0 win with a goal from Emre.
A third successive top-flight triumph enabled Graeme Souness' team to strengthen their position in the top half of the Premiership standings.
With Newcastle three points behind fourth-place Manchester United in the table, a manager who rejected the chance to succeed Sir Bobby Robson last year, believes the Champions League is a realistic target.
"It's fair to say, with strikers like Michael Owen and Alan Shearer, there is hardly any limit to where Newcastle can go," said Bruce, who spent his formative years amongst the Toon Army at the Gallowgate End.
"They are obviously not going to win the title, but I don't think a top-four place is beyond them with their strikeforce.
"The only position I could say they definitely won't finish in is top, but anything else is just about possible - and it wouldn't surprise me if Newcastle ended up very high in the table."
By the time United return to action at Stamford Bridge on November 19, Souness is hoping to have the bulk of his blue-chip players back in action.
Shearer, Albert Luque, Stephen Carr and Kieron Dyer are all receiving treatment on injuries and, with the benefit of a fully-fit squad, Bruce believes an Owen-led Newcastle are a formidable force.
"Graeme has a lot of his players coming back from their injuries and although they have not been at the top of their game this season, Newcastle are certainly getting better - their results have shown that," said the St Andrews boss.
"They have got some high-class players and, in Michael Owen, they have got a proven 20-goal-a-season striker. As everyone knows in the Premier League, they are a priceless commodity.
"I think any manager in the league would benefit greatly from his presence. He didn't have a lot of success in our game at the weekend but he was always a threat and that will never change.
"You can mark Michael Owen out of the game for 89 minutes and then he scores in a split second.
"He is that good and he will propel Newcastle up the table." Owen has made a major impact since joining United in a £16m deal from Real Madrid at the end of August and can already boast four goals from his six league games in a black-and-white shirt.
Equally important to the club's recent revival has been an improved defence and, having seen his side keep six clean sheets in their last eight games, Souness was last night hoping for favourable news on Steven Taylor.
The talented teenager has been Newcastle's best defender this season. But, having been sent home from England Under-21 duty as the result of a shoulder injury, Taylor will hope that the problem will not cost him his first-team place.
The 19-year-old yesterday went for a scan and Souness is still awaiting the results. Taylor will play no part in tomorrow's Uefa Championship play-off first leg against France at White Hart Lane and is expected to miss the second leg in Nancy next Tuesday.
Although initial reports suggested the in-form centre-half could face two weeks on the sidelines, club officials were last night making no comment, other than to say that they were "monitoring the situation".
