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 Tony Mallabar:
Three words to describe how you currently feel as a Newcastle United fan?
Roll on Everton…
I thought with the World Cup starting soon, NUFC duty would be put on the backburner. But no, ugly bus and tickets all sorted for 12th August at Murrayfield.
Three words to describe Newcastle United now?
BRING BACK RAFA!
After defeat at home to the village of the damned I was furious with nice guy Eddie for letting us get bullied and beaten by that lot. I love nice guy Eddie and nobody in the away end sings “Eddie Howe’s black and white army” louder than me and I’ve calmed down a bit. So on balance I think he deserves next season to turn it around.
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
Eddie Howe
The players
Newcastle United owners (not dealing properly with Isak situation, not having senior staff in place etc to help get summer 2025 transfers done etc)
Bad luck and small margins
It is 100% on the owners for the way they handled the Isak situation. It totally knocked us left-field for last season.
And an extra 100% added on to nice guy Eddie for our two derby defeats and yes, I am still bitter.
What rating out of 10 would you give each of the permanent summer 2025 signings for their contributions across the 2025/26 season?
Elanga gets a 1 out of 10 (the 1 because of the brace he scored at Barcelona). Getting to watch the lad live regularly he’s either suffered the biggest loss of confidence I’ve ever seen in a player, or moving to us has helped him to discover his inner Wayne Fereday.
Ramsey, now I saw him come on against us when we were 3-0 up at villa a few seasons ago and he totally changed the game for Villa. So he’s a 6 out of 10.
Thiaw 6 out of 10. Started off brilliantly for us but unfortunately towards the end of the season showed his AC Milan form. Which is probably why they sold him.
Wissa 3 out of 10. Injury and looking genuinely rubbish when he got on the pitch. But bookmark this…we get a different Wissa next season, just a feeling i have.
Big Nick, gets the obligatory 5 out of 10. There’s definitely a player in there, just maybe not at Newcastle United, also he doesn’t help himself by lolloping around the pitch George Reilly style.
What do you see as the biggest priorities in the transfer market this summer?
Honestly, this is my bog standard answer to that question. Once you have seen a Gazza or Beardsley walk out the front door, I am not really that bothered about who we get. Once you put on that black and white shirt you’ve got my backing for the 90mins.
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)?
I wasn’t that fussed when we signed Gordon as I hated him rolling around constantly every time someone brushed past him, but fair play to the lad on his Newcastle career and good luck to him at Barcelona, see you in 12 months Anthony!!!
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)?
Everyone has their own opinion on the Isak situation and only our owners could have any input into the events.
Me personally? I would have forced him to stay. Then with the PIF I would have bought luckypool and installed Steve Bruce as manager and turned all the food outlets inside Anfield into chippies so the scousers could watch their team with
chips on both shoulders, to give them a more balanced outlook to “dee mightee reds.”
What do you predict will be the Newcastle United first choice eleven for the 2026/27 season?
Doesn’t matter what the team is, I will be there in block I v54 of the East Stand, or in the away end, supporting us.
Is Eddie Howe still in charge next season the correct decision?
Hopefully. I love Eddie and wish him all the best. Alternatively, I see Rafa ( who is a Geordie), is available again.
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?
Pretty much ultimately every club with the exception of Real Madrid and Barcelona (Don’t you just hate it when pretentious tw.ts in the media call them Barca. Sorry, off point!) is a selling club.
Hopefully we get the recruitment right this summer.
Which players emerge with credit for the 2025/26 season?
Okay, elephant in the room moment. Yours truly (Newcastle’s number one fickle fan) had it in for our very own heedless chicken Osula, but fair play to the lad as through not a small amount of considerable graft on his part has got me onside. So he will now be known as super skill Will from now on at Chateau Mallabar.
1 Bruno
2 Super skill Will
3 Big fabs
And 5 others.
What would represent success in the 2026/27 season for Newcastle United?
Just beat the village of the damned please.
Predict the top six in the Premier League (in order) and which three clubs will be relegated in 2026/27.
Not really bothered as long as we win the Premier League, beat the village of the damned and luckypool get relegated. Oh had on, hoy the scouse mackems into the relegated category as well.
At what point did you first think the 2025/26 Newcastle United wasn’t going to turn out as you had hoped it would?
West Ham United away.
We had went down the day before and seen the Heed win at Wimbledon 2-0 in the cup and had a cracking night at my mate’s (Terry Time Warp) 70th birthday (shudders, I’ve got a 70 year old mate).
Went to West Ham the next day and got well humped 3-1.. Plus bumped into Monk at ht who bought me a pint of dish water by the taste of it. I then went to watch the second half and when leaving found Monk in the same place still drinking where I had left him.
I actually saw monk at ht at Arsenal (teatime ko) and he was soberish, I thought he’d turned a corner. Only to see him in the away coach park at Nottingham Forest where he then proceeds to slaver over me like an eight week old puppy. Simon, I love you really (except for the kind Mike Ashley bobbins).
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)?
In today’s modern transfer world it’s all a stats and data driven business. So I haven’t a scooby, sorry.
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 2030 the club will be competing to win all competitions. What do you predict will be the reality in the next five years?
Thing is, nobody knows what the NUFC owners’ intentions are. So I can only go on what I’ve seen. East Stand has had a lick of paint but unfortunately is now serving Madri lager. The dynamic in the away end has changed and not for the better. It’s great that the club have put people and plans in place for the next five years but how about getting the Keegan’s hamburger stand back outside of the East Stand??.
How would you rate your optimism for next season at Newcastle United from 0-100?
100!
Will you be taking an active interest in the Newcastle players at the World Cup?
Not really, just hoping they don’t get injured.
When Anthony Gordon is playing at the World Cup will you still be thinking of him as one of our own?
Good luck to the lad and hope he has a cracking world cup.
My abiding memory of Anthony Gordon will be AC Milan away when the night before the match we went down to the canal district of Milan which has loads of boozers and for 45 minutes hundreds of our young uns sang the Anthony Gordon song and it felt like a passing of the guard support-wise as we sat there with our tums full after a very large Italian meal (Chrissy Numbers finished his and then ate a full tub of parmesan cheese that I’d got to sprinkle over my Carbonara…).
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?
Obviously will be watching and wanting England to win but picked my dad up from the club on Monday night and gave his mate Marl a lift home, he’s put a ton on Spain.