Newcastle United fans preparing for the 2026/27 Premier League season.
Less than two weeks to go now until Liverpool travel to St James’ Park.
An ‘interesting’ summer so far…
So many talking points.
An ideal time to get a snapshot of views from Newcastle United fans on their thoughts.
So we sent out questions to a number of regular/irregular contributors to The Mag, varying to a degree the questions that different fans received to answer.
Next up answering some questions is Max R:
With so much change, how do you currently feel when it comes to balancing fears of the end of a relatively successful era and hopes of the dawning of the chance of a new successful different era? (So if you have 100% fears and 0% hopes that would be 100/0, if feeling 60% fear and 40% hope then 60/40)
40/60. I think it’s impossible to not have fear after watching so many star players jump ship, but I’d take that over 19th place and winless. Bazou Toure and Hornicek look incredible, Bamba and Jaouen are promising and I (along with a lot of the NUFC staff by the looks of it) am blown away by Sean Steur.
Plugging a few more gaps in the squad (Bruno replacement, full-back cover) and we have a brilliant platform to build on. Is it as good as it was? No, but thinking about who we’ve lost isn’t gonna make anyone feel better.
Which eight current Newcastle United players (in order) are going to be most important for the 2026/27 season?
Hall and Tino top it for me. The only two players we have left who are recognised as near the top of the league in their positions, providing both stay fit they will be integral in Jaissle’s backline.
Barnes needs to step up and do what he’s always done and score goals when it matters. Toure might take some time to adjust to his first season in the Premier League, so we will be relying on Barnesy’s proven quality on the left. All the fans who said he deserved to start over Gordon have gotten their wish, at least.
Burn’s leadership is gonna be vital. He is the glaringly obvious choice for captain going into this season and the choice I would make. Even if he doesn’t start many games I think he is gonna be vital behind the scenes.
Malick Thiaw. Our best centre-back and the provider of so many good performances last season. It seemed like every mistake he made was like a needle in a haystack with catastrophic consequences (penalty vs Barca, for example) but he has undeniable quality, an eye for a goal, and his experience will always grow.
Joelinton. Similar to Burn, needs to step up in a leadership sense, providing he stays at the club. Could be higher on the list if it wasn’t for being incredibly injury prone, but the fact is he is the final remaining member of our “best midfield three in the league” and is crucial to bringing stability to the squad.
Nick Woltemade. Say what you want about Nick Woltemade, but he is our record signing. The giant German displayed quality all throughout the season, and endured a lot of criticism from our fanbase and the wider footballing world. However, when you look at his stats, for a young man who played his first season in England, he had a campaign to be proud of. If Howe didn’t drop him all the way back to defensive midfield on some occasions, he could’ve popped up with some more goals, and he was incredibly unlucky not to register more assists in his premier Newcastle campaign (his passes to Wissa vs Arsenal and Murphy vs Qarabag immediately spring to mind). I think it is integral that Jaissle decides categorically what position is best for Big Nick, so he can find some stability and perform with more consistent numbers going forward.
I was torn between Wissa and Osula for this final spot, but Wissa’s impressive World Cup, apparent increase in fitness in training, and his age all point to him being the more important talisman for this season. I was there for his debut goal vs Fulham and was instantly excited, but the truth is he really was a shell of the player who netted 19 times for Brentford the season prior. We’re still dealing with the fallout of He Who Shall Not Be Named ditching us for Liverpool, but I remain hopeful that Wissa and Osula (especially with how he ended last season) can plug the gap. If not, there’s always a January panic buy! Sorloth, anyone?
The opening six league games are Liverpool home, Spurs away, Bournemouth home, Leeds away, Hull home and Coventry away. How many points would Newcastle need to take for you to be happy and what would you predict will be the reality?
I am praying that we finally break this Liverpool curse, but I’m gonna be slightly more realistic and say 1 point there (cue the Isak show). 1 point at Spurs (now cue the Tonali rocket in the 98th minute). 1 point from Bournemouth, they’ve always been one of our bogey teams unfortunately, I reckon that game can go either way, though. 3 points at Leeds, Hull and Coventry brings us to 12 points. I’d take 7 or 8 points with gritted teeth, though. Just don’t lose from winning positions!
What do you think of the choice of Matthias Jaissle as the new NUFC boss?
Was unsure at first. Liked the idea of a Cesc Fabregas instead. Now that I’ve learned a bit about Wor Matty though, I’m excited by him and his ideas. Roll on Matty Jaissle’s Mags!
Three words to describe how you currently feel as a Newcastle United fan?
Nervous but excited.
Do you think Newcastle United would have had more or less chance of having a successful 2026/27 season if Eddie Howe had stayed?
Less. The tail-end of last year we looked to be completely figured out, so unless Eddie completely revolutionised his playing style then I believe we would’ve stagnated.
Matthias Jaissle seems to be quite similar to Howe in terms of high intensity and pressing but he also looks like he has a better capability to adapt, as there’s differences between his Salzburg squad and his Al-Ahli one whilst keeping his footballing identity relatively the same.
Hand on heart, what position do you currently believe Newcastle United are most likely to finish in the 2026/27 Premier League season?
6th. Call me overly optimistic but we still have a few more signings to (hopefully) welcome in, and if they’re experienced signings (once again, hopefully) we will have a nice blend of leadership and young hunger to remain competitive in the league. That and a new manager with new ideas will make us a formidable team. I do think that’s contingent on a few more new additions though. Anything lower than 9th I’d be disappointed.