We wanted to get an overview of how Newcastle United fans are feeling at the moment.
Thoughts on the 2025/26 season that has just concluded.
As one season ends though, thoughts immediately turn to what comes next, only 11 weeks to go until the 2026/27 Premier League kicks off.
An ideal time to get a snapshot of views from Newcastle United fans on their thoughts, with a busy summer ahead of us all.
So we sent out questions to a number of regular/irregular contributors to The Mag.
Next up answering the questions is Wor Lass:
Newcastle United fell from 5th to 12th in the Premier League, what percentage of the blame/responsibility would you attach to each of these?
Alexander Isak – 20%
Eddie Howe – 20%
The players – 20%
Newcastle United owners (not dealing properly with Isak situation, not having senior staff in place etc to help get summer 2025 transfers done etc) – 30%
Bad luck and small margins – 10%
What rating out of 10 would you give each of the permanent summer 2025 signings for their contributions across the 2025/26 season and what are your hopes/expectations (if any) for each of them next season at Newcastle United?
Anthony Elanga – 4
Jacob Ramsey – 7
Malick Thiaw – 8
Yoane Wissa – 2
Nick Woltemade – 5
Wissa was the biggest failure. He’s definitely a better player than he’s looked so far. Ironically, he only seemed to come alive in the final game of the season. I think the way our fans at the matches backed the players who were struggling was fantastic.
What do you see as the biggest priorities in the transfer market this summer?
It depends on whether Eddie can get a tune out of Wissa and find the right position for Woltemade – and who else we lose. Our squad is so thin that any major player who goes (either full back, Tonali, Bruno, Joey) will need replacing. As it is, we need an accomplished striker, a midfield playmaker, a ball playing keeper and full back cover on both sides now that Tripps has gone. I see keeper as top priority and would shell out for Trafford.
Was it the correct decision to sell Anthony Gordon and how do you think he should be judged on his time at Newcastle United (and do you think he will prove a success at Barcelona)?
Yes, I think the time was right. I really liked the lad and we’ll miss his energy and pace all over the pitch. I’ve no idea if he was a bad apple, as some people maintain, but he was ready to leave so we’ve done well to get a decent price and settle things professionally. A big contrast to the Rat. For me, he goes down as one of the best players we’ve had in my time – on his day. He just loses out to the likes of Supermac, Ginola and Robert due to his inconsistency in front of goal. I wish him luck at Barcelona and expect him to become a major player in La Liga, especially as Andoni Goikoetxea isn’t around any more!
Three words to describe how you currently feel as a Newcastle United fan?
Glad Eddie’s Staying!
I’m a bit sick of saying this but although our performance in the league has been disappointing this season, I think there are reasons for that (we all know what they are and we’ve flogged them to death in recent weeks) and, in my opinion, Eddie has earned the right to try and sort things out.
Three words to describe Newcastle United now?
On the brink!
It’s make or break time for Eddie and the owners. From my perspective, they’ll either prove me right to back Eddie or leave me disappointed. I’m hoping that we buy well in the window and Eddie finds a way to get the best out of our current squad – whichever ones that stick with us!
The Newcastle United owners refused to sell Alexander Isak across summer 2025, only to then do so on deadline day. If they had carried out their reported intention to make him stay and the window had closed with Isak still at the club (plus Wissa and/or Woltemade not signed), how do you predict things would have then turned out for Alexander Isak and Newcastle United (Would he have still refused to train and play? How would Newcastle’s season have turned out? etc etc)?
My impression is that the Rat had spat his dummy so far out it had fallen down a drain cover never to be found. He would have mouldered away on the background and probably pulled a muscle getting his wad out of the local ATM. He will have refused to train with the youngsters and will most likely have taken legal action to stop the club picking on him. He will definitely have got his mum to write a note to the papers claiming, “Everyone’s out of step except Wor Alex”!
What do you predict will be the Newcastle United first choice eleven for the 2026/27 season and please put ‘new signing’ in any position where you think that will turn out to be the case.
Trafford (or other new player) / Tino (we may have been saved by his latest injury) / Thiaw / Botman / Hall / Tonali* / Bruno / Joey* / ???
I haven’t included Miley because I don’t know when he’ll be fully available.
*players most at threat from new signings
??? Up front is impossible to predict at this stage. Will we buy a new CF? Will Eddie gat a tune out of Wissa and Elanga? Will he change the formation and accommodate Woltemade? Is Osula ready to become a regular starter or did he just have one of those Murphy/Miggy purple patches? If Barnes stays I’d start him as left winger.
Is Eddie Howe still in charge next season the correct decision?
Absolutely. I do think he’s lucky because many clubs would have ditched him and recycled someone who’d failed elsewhere but had a nice line in bull’s excrement. His record in the league last season was sub standard but I just feel he has earned the right to try and put us back on course.
How confident are you that Newcastle will not lose Bruno, Hall, Livramento, Thiaw and Tonali? Do you think it would be a good thing if any of these players were sold?
I hope we keep them all. Probably the most coveted by the cartel and the European big boys is Tonali but I just have a suspicion that he has an affinity with the club, the fans and Eddie in particular for standing by him in his hour of need. That’s why he agreed to the contract extension as compensation for his enforced absence. We may keep hold of Tino for now due to his injury record.
Hall not making the England World Cup squad is a bit of a shocker as far as I’m concerned but it could work both ways for us. If Tuchel sees something about his game that puts him off then maybe other managers will take note and leave well alone for now. On the other hand, he might feel that he’d have more chance of progressing if he was at a cartel club. I don’t agree with that notion, though. Thiaw would be a miss but his occasional little lapses in concentration will, hopefully, make other clubs a little cautious. The player who I think is most likely to leave is Harvey Barnes.
Which players emerge with credit for the 2025/26 season?
Mainly Bruno, Hall, Thiaw, Gordon and Barnes,
Next level but not as consistent, Tonali, Joey, Ramsey, Osula
To a lesser extent due to the limitations of injury and lack of minutes: Tino, Miley.
Sporadically, Willock and Woltemade.
I think everyone tried their best and I don’t see any evidence, as some people claim, of Eddie having lost the dressing room. I think the fans’ reaction to individual players and their performances has been exemplary. Remember the Manure fans cheering when Joshua Zirkzee was subbed? Shameful!
What would represent success in the 2026/27 season for Newcastle United?
Decent cup runs again but we absolutely have to be at least in the race for Champions League qualification. We may not get it because the bar is being set higher and higher but ending up in the Europa League (which we would have a chance of winning) would represent success for me.
What do you see as the minimum to achieve this coming season?
European qualification but I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t at least Europa.
Predict the top six in the Premier League (in order) and which three clubs will be relegated in 2026/27.
Top 6 (complete guesswork):
Arsenal
Man City
Chelsea
Villa
Man Utd
NUFC
Relegated – three from:
Coventry
Ipswich
Palace (post Glasner and with Europa League)
Forest (minus Anderson)
Which eight current Newcastle United players (in order) are the most important to keep for the 2026/27 season?
Bruno, Tonali, Hall, Tino, Thiaw, Joey, Barnes, Miley
At what point did you first think the 2025/26 Newcastle United wasn’t going to turn out as you had hoped it would?
I think after the lacklustre display away to the Mackems. That was a shocker and the beginning of the Eddie out movement.
Which players do you think would be ideal (and realistic) signings this summer (don’t feel limited to only players who have been linked to Newcastle United in the media)?
It’s hard to be realistic when you don’t know who’s staying and what the budget is.
We are now coming up to five years since the Newcastle United owners bought the club from Mike Ashley. Are you now more or less (or the same) optimistic about where they will take the club compared to how you felt back in October 2021? How committed do you think the owners are now to NUFC? Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the intention was to make Newcastle number one in the world, CEO David Hopkinson says the intention is that by 20230 the club will be competing to win all competitions. What do you predict will be the reality in the next five years?
It’s a difficult one because we’re literally starved of information. The club hardly communicates with the fans now, unlike in the “Staveley days”. They seem to only say anything now when things are done and dusted (like with the purchase of Leazes Terrace).
The only hints about intentions come in the form of journalistic insights based on “sources close to the club”. Nicely deniable. My gut feeling is that the owners are still committed but any sense of urgency has gone and being a top dog by 2030 doesn’t seem feasible now unless they find a way to inject a lot of spending power into the club. Is the recent claimed share sale offer an indication that this is what they’re planning to do? Who knows?
How would you rate your optimism for next season at Newcastle United from 0-100?
Probably 60 – it’s surely got to go better than this season?! That figure could climb if we make one or two decent signings and keep most of our big hitters.
Will you be taking an active interest in the Newcastle players at the World Cup?
When Anthony Gordon is playing at the World Cup will you still be thinking of him as one of our own?
I want all of our players to succeed. AG’s not one of our own any more but I want him to do well because I like him. Rashford looks in fine fettle at the moment so he’s got a fight on his hands.. I expect Big Dan to fill in against the “easier” teams. I’m not sure if Tino’s fully recovered but I see him as a better defender than Spence so he might play more as the competition advances. I’ll take a passing interest in the likes of Wissa and Elanga but I’ll be rooting for Bruno as long as Brazil aren’t playing England. I can’t believe Lewis Hall isn’t even in the squad.
What level of interest generally will you have in the World Cup and what is your prediction on who will win it and how far do you think England will get?
I feel less interested in this competition because of all the political shenanigans associated with it and the way fans are being cynically ripped off.
I’m also not as confident in the England team as I usually am. We rely far too much on Harry Kane to get the goals and have a lack of pace in too many areas. Teams like France and Spain could take us apart on the break. We do have a number of top quality players, though, and no one will relish drawing us. I fancy France or Spain to win it. I haven’t looked at the schedule and who we might meet but I expect we’ll make the Quarters, anyway.