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Forest's manager walked towards the exit with a puzzled expression, gaze fixed on the ground. After 7 games as manager with no victories, his prospects appeared as unclear as a fog on the Tyne.

While Newcastle were far from their dominant level, second-half goals from the Brazilian midfielder and the German striker—Woltemade's a spot-kick—eventually secured them a much-needed another Premier League win of the season.

At kick-off, the manager's insulated anorak swaddled him like a duvet, but the Australian's agitated body language indicated it offered no solace.

No coat could protect him from the fear that his victory-less beginning at Forest—taking over as the only manager in a century to go winless in his opening six games—would continue before a likely dismissal over the upcoming pause.

And yet, his team did not do too badly during a defensively stingy first half.

Although Elliot Anderson at times outshone even the Italian star in the center, reminding everyone why the Newcastle boss was so reluctant to let go of the academy product, Nikola Milenkovic marked the striker effectively, and Nicolò Savona caused the full-back problems down the home left.

Credit to the forward, who received minimal supply in the air or on the ground, his team's creative department was not quite clicking.

True, it took a fine fingertip save from Matt Sels—ex- Newcastle shot-stopper—to deny Joelinton effort, and the player failed to convert a few opportunities, but overall, the visitors' defending was significantly better.

Given it is only a month since Postecoglou succeeded Nuno Espírito Santo and games have come in quick succession, with precious little time to put into practice his ideas on the training ground, all the talk of an impending dismissal seemed faintly ridiculous.

That was until the midfielder lifted a right-foot shot over the keeper and into the upper net from the edge of the area.

That saw the manager looking dismayed in apparent despair, wearing the pained expression of a man who had misplaced his house keys.

The Forest squad protested about a perceived infraction on their playmaker by the scorer in the lead-up, but their appeals fell on deaf ears by the officials.

With the Italian now dominant in midfield, the youngster was not the sole visiting player struggling to make an impact.

By now, the coach had removed his coat and rolled up the sleeves of his sweater. As Forest rarely appearing capable of scoring and the hosts threatening to break down their previously much-enhanced backline, he was obviously under pressure.

It took another excellent stop from Sels to keep out the midfielder's driven cross-shot, before the following corner prefaced the striker's half-volley crashing the bottom of the bar.

The keeper then made an excellent two quick stops from Malick Thiaw and Harvey Barnes before eventually being beaten from the penalty spot by the German.

That spot-kick was given when Anderson's poorly timed tackle sent the Brazilian tumbling to the ground.

Stepping up, the Germany striker to confound the goalie by chipping a quite audacious spot-kick into the top left corner.

That marked his fourth strike for Newcastle since his £70m transfer from the German side in the summer, contradicting claims from officials at Bayern Munich that Newcastle were “foolish” to spend so heavily for the centre-forward.

It wasn't his finest performance in black and white, but his skill to retain possession and use his sticky control to connect attacks is already making him a cult hero on Tyneside.