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So many of these players made history by ending a 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy, and qualifying for the Champions League.
But this side currently look a pale imitation of the team who won the Carabao Cup at Wembley last season.
The number of games drained Newcastle have played, the uncertainty surrounding the futures of key players and the consequences of a turbulent window last summer should not completely excuse a run of eight defeats in 11 in the Premier League.
Newcastle once "bullied teams", in the words of defender Dan Burn, but recent defeats against Bournemouth and Crystal Palace were all the more striking given the increased recovery and training time Howe has been afforded this month, after a relentless schedule eased.
The head coach recognised on Friday that "we have to find ways to get the players to respond better to us".
Just as Newcastle struggle to build on goals, they are also leaky at the back - which is a dangerous combination.
No wonder, then, no other team has thrown away more points from winning positions (25) in the top flight this season.
That is a sobering statistic for any manager - regardless of previous achievements.
The system, the substitutions and the seemingly inevitable drop-off are now becoming a little too predictable.
By contrast, Newcastle's once trademark ability to bounce back from a bruising defeat has deserted them under Howe in recent weeks.
How the head coach needs to summon a response and oversee a battling performance at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
"The team always performs in line with the individuals within it," Howe said. "I think we have lost a little bit of our experience, a little bit of our know-how.
"The duel aspect, we certainly haven't performed as well as we have in previous seasons, so they're things that we're fully aware of.
"Our hallmark in previous seasons was that and we need to retain that to be successful."
