He's like Rudi Voller on stilts! Why £69m Nick Woltemade can be Newcastle's new idol after Alexander Isak heartache, writes CRAIG HOPE

He is very different from Alexander Isak, but putting the ball in the back of the net is the only similarity that mattered for new striker Nick Woltemade and Newcastle United .

The German did not threaten to run in behind, or dare to dribble with elasticity and elan. As Eddie Howe readily admits, Isak is irreplaceable. But if the man who has taken his place in the team continues to play like this, he will scratch his very own St James' Park soundtrack.

And so, as Woltemade made way on 65 minutes as the scorer of what would prove to be the game's only goal, the choir in the stands took to their feet in worship. So much for the perm-haired, moustachioed Woltemade having the look of a cult hero — Rudi Voller on stilts — this was mass appreciation.

Come full-time, there was a hug from Howe, and it felt as though the Newcastle boss did not want to let go. For the first time this season, his side had won a game and scored a goal with 11 men on the pitch. The two that were scored in the 3-2 defeat by Liverpool last month came amid the chaos of being down to 10.

It would have been a relief to Howe, then, to see a more conventional goal scored that would hint at more to come. Jacob Murphy crossed a ball in from the right and a centre forward headed it in at the far post. That used to be Isak on the end of Murphy's supply line. It is Woltemade who can profit now.

The 29th-minute header was his only real chance of the game, and he was never going to miss once he had out-thought and out-fought Emmanuel Agbadou in the battle for territory in the six-yard area.

Nick Woltemade enjoyed a dream debut as he scored the winner in Newcastle's victory over Wolves

Newcastle's new £69m striker enjoyed a warm embrace with Eddie Howe after the match

The finish was firm, but the cunning in working space to apply it was even more impressive. And if there was one take-away from Woltemade's debut, it is that the 23-year-old seems a smart type.

He is not pace, he is not power, but he is a strategist, all clever touches and feints, brains if not brawn. He does not have a good touch for a big man, he just has a good touch. Very good, in fact. He plays as if with adhesive on his boots. Come the hour, though, they felt heavy. It was he who asked to come off, with his legs no longer able to cash the cheques his brain was writing, and Howe said it could take a while before he is ready to scheme for the entirety of a Premier League match.

Woltemade will not be the only Bundesliga arrival on these shores to feel that — just look at Benjamin Sesko at Manchester United. The difference with Woltemade is that he made a difference in his time on the pitch.

And what a boost that was for those around him, who had played so well at times in their opening three matches and emerged from August with just two points to show for it. Without a goalscorer, confidence soon fades. Slowly, it returned here.

For half an hour, though, Woltemade may have watched and wondered how many he would have scored had he been in gold.

Wolves were the better side. They were fast and tricky and, in Hwang Hee-chan and Rodrigo Gomes they had a pair causing problems in a way the home forwards could not.

Nick Pope made two saves inside 60 seconds from Gomes and then Hwang that were a reminder of his worth. Without those, the atmosphere inside St James' would have had the feel of air escaping a balloon. It was nervy during those opening 30 minutes.

But then, when Woltemade headed in and saluted the black and white masses in celebration, the noise was primal.

After a summer of Isak marked by stress, mockery and, at the end of it all, loss, this was the sound of a stadium exhaling, a collective roar of relief.

He was not wearing No 9, but in that moment a new idol was born. He will have to score a lot more to justify the £69million club record fee, but that is a concern for another day.

For this day, Newcastle just had to find a way to win. They did so by finding the simplest solution to the most complicated summer — by playing a striker who can score a goal.