Shay Given was struggling, so the arrival of 38-year old Pavel Srnicek to take his place was by no means a stunt to give the Czech a brief moment of glory and cap of a brilliant afternoon during the 3-1 win over Spurs.
But it was a moment I'm sure the goalkeeper will never forget. Always a popular figure at Newcastle, his appearance had the Toon Army in raptures.
There was a down side of course, Shay Given finally succumbed to a groin injury that has troubled him for a week or so. And the Irishman could miss the trip to the Reebok on Boxing Day. Srnicek made first appearance (although just six minutes long) for the club in more than nine years and spark a hurried call to youngster Tim Krul to return from Holland.
Roeder: "We have managed to keep it quiet for a few weeks that Shay has had a slight groin problem.
"It is unbelievable that he could go five seasons without any problems whatsoever and suddenly at Upton Park earlier in the season, he had an injury that is never seen on a football field, it is only ever seen in car crashes.
"We got him back from that, and now he has picked up a groin injury that does not rule him out of the game on Boxing Day yet.
"We will be recalling Tim Krul. He was on a flight to Amsterdam at 4pm this afternoon, and he will probably now only get a chance to have breakfast with his parents tomorrow before getting on a plane back to Newcastle."