Perhaps Joey Barton was right to quit Manchester City - because on this evidence he wouldn't get anywhere near the team being built by Sven Goran Eriksson.
The Liverpudlian, baited by City fans all afternoon, will count himself lucky to have been sidelined by a broken foot as his former club dismantled the side that he had joined in the summer to further his lofty ambitions.
In the months since Barton left Eastlands, Eriksson has done away with the donkey-jacket football which made our Joey such an influential performer under Stuart Pearce last season.
Instead, City are playing the game Brazilian style - with a little bit of Bulgarian, Belgian, English and Irish thrown in for good measure.
It was fitting that it was Brazilian Elano who sealed the fourth home win of the season, with a ferocious free-kick that had City's fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
It's been 31 years since the blue half of Manchester saw their team lift a trophy - and this is arguably the best football they have witnessed since those golden days of Tueart and Barnes.
A clearly delighted Eriksson said: "I like to watch my team because they can all play football.
"I hope there is more to come - and I think there will be, when they can all speak good English!
"Our football was excellent at times and we could have scored more goals, but I think we should just be happy to have won again."
City had to show they've got bottle to go with their brilliance after falling behind to Obafemi Martins' brilliantly-executed strike in the 29th minute.
Micah Richards had been lucky to escape when his penalty-box lunge sent James Milner sprawling - but when he allowed Martins to pull off his shoulder there was to be no reprieve.
The Nigerian controlled Geremi's long ball forward superbly with his left foot before using his other instep to lift his shot over the advancing Joe Hart.
But there had already been flashes of the the brilliance that eventually brought City victory, with Elano forcing Shay Given into a breathtaking save and Stephen Ireland striking the bar.
Sven's men suffered again when Given beat away Martin Petrov's deflected blast, but City finally equalised in the 38th minute after Elano carved the visitors open with an exquisite pass for Ireland. The Irishman's low cross was met by Bulgarian Petrov who fired home at the far post.
The home side were ahead two minutes after half-time when another blistering counter-attack - helped by some comic book defending - saw Petrov burst past Steven Taylor from inside his own half before crossing for Mpenza to send a header beyond Given.
Ireland hooked another cross against the bar before centre-back pair Richards and Richard Dunne illustrated City's swashbuckling approach perfectly by leading a breakaway attack as Newcastle pressed for an equaliser.
Martins should have done better for the Magpies when he slashed a great chance wide from 12 yards, but Richards and Mpenza both squandered chances at the other end before Elano made the game safe in sensational style with a powerful 35-yard free-kick.
Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce said: "It was entertaining - but that's not the object of the game when you are playing away from home. We have a lot of new players who don't have experience of the Premier League or of playing together, but some of our defending was suicidal."
This is City's best start to a season for 30 years - yet there were thousands of empty seats. They don't know what they're missing.
DID YOU KNOW?
Toon's last win at City was in September 2000 when Newcastle won 1-0 with a 74th-minute goal from Alan Shearer.
HOW THEY RATED
MAN CITY
Hart 7, Corluka 7 (Onuoha 6), Richards 7, Dunne 8, Garrido 7, Ireland 7, Johnson 7 (Ball 6), Hamann 7, Petrov 8, Elano 9 (Geovanni 6), Mpenza 8.
Manager Eriksson 8
NEWCASTLE
Given 7, Beye 6, Taylor 5 (Faye 5), Rozehnal 5, N'Zogbia 6, Milner 7, Geremi 5 (Enrique 5), Butt 5, Smith 5, Martins 7, Viduka 7 (Emre 5).
Manager Allardyce 6
Referee C Foy 4
HEAD TO HEAD
Elano v Nicky Butt
Butt was given the task of halting the deep-lying Elano - and never got anywhere near the Brazilian, who was at the heart of all City's best moments.
Man of the Match
ELANO
The £8m Brazilian now looks like an absolute bargain. Orchestrated all of City's best play from midfield - and then capped the comeback win with a sensational long-range free-kick.
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JONATHAN PEARCE
ALEC STEWART
THE MOLE