What are the key problems the Magpies boss must solve ahead of Wednesday’s return to Champions League action against Athletic Bilbao and Sunday’s trip to the Gtech Community Stadium to face Brentford?

JEKYLL AND HYDE GORDON

Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon (Image: John Walton/PA)

Put Anthony Gordon on the Champions League stage and he plays out of his skin, with his four goals from the opening three games of this season’s competition making him the tournament’s joint third-highest scorer. Put him in an England shirt, and as he proved in last month’s matches against Wales and Latvia, he also tends to excel.

When it comes to the bread and butter of the Premier League, though, the winger regularly goes missing, with his horribly below-par performance in the first half of yesterday’s loss to the Hammers representing a new nadir in a season that has so far seen him fail to claim either a goal or an assist in the league.

Gordon looked disinterested at the London Stadium, failing to track back with any kind of urgency and repeatedly allowing Aaron Wan-Bissaka to run off him. The worry is...