It took me about three years to summon the courage to comment on The Mag, then a further two and a half to feel brave enough to write this!
I watched Newcastle United win the Carabao Cup while recovering from surgery to remove a tumour from my bowel. As strange as it might sound to anyone outside football, I swear blind that day helped my recovery.
When you’re lying in a hospital bed or stuck at home trying to get your strength back, your world can become very small. You spend a lot of time thinking, worrying and wondering what comes next. Then Newcastle United went and did something I wasn’t sure I’d ever see in my lifetime. They won a major trophy.
The final whistle went, the emotions hit and for a few hours everything else faded into the background. The scans, the appointments, the recovery, the uncertainty – none of it mattered. Newcastle United were cup winners.
I’ve spent days thinking about why that victory meant so much to me. The truth is, I can’t remember being that happy about anything other than the births of my children and meeting my wife. That’s not an exaggeration.
For people who don’t understand football, that probably sounds ridiculous. But Newcastle United isn’t just a football club to many of us. It’s woven into family life, friendships, memories and identity. We carry it with us everywhere.
This is exactly why I think that the current debate around the club matters so much. Because while I remain hugely grateful for what Eddie Howe has achieved, and while that cup final will forever be one of the greatest days I’ve experienced as a supporter, I’m finding myself increasingly concerned about the direction Newcastle United are heading in.
Maybe it’s just me, but this is the most uneasy I’ve felt about Newcastle United since things really started moving under these Newcastle United owners.
That’s not because I think we’re heading for disaster, It’s because for the first time in a while, it feels like we’re standing still while everyone around us is getting on with it.
Not so long ago it felt like everything was pointing in the right direction. We had a manager who’d worked miracles, Champions League football, a trophy back on Tyneside at long last and a fanbase united behind a clear vision. Now? There’s a few cracks appearing.
The biggest frustration has to be recruitment.
Every recent window seems to follow the same pattern. We identify targets, negotiations drag on, prices get driven up and before you know it we’re halfway through pre-season still talking about what might happen rather than what has happened.
I understand PSR. I understand Newcastle can’t just spend like they could have 30 years ago on world record transfers, but supporters are entitled to ask why obvious gaps in the squad are still there season after season.
What’s more concerning is that not every signing we’ve made has moved the club forward, especially last summer.
Nobody gets every transfer right, but Newcastle can’t afford as many misses as there have been. We’re not in a position where £20 million or £30 million mistakes can simply be brushed aside. Every signing needs to improve the squad and too many recent additions have either struggled for form, struggled for fitness or simply failed to establish themselves.
Then there’s the size and age profile of the squad.
This, for me, is one of the biggest issues facing the club.
How many times over the last couple of seasons have we looked at the bench and thought, “we’re a bit light here”?
The same core group of players have carried Newcastle United through some incredible moments. They’ve given everything for the shirt and they’ll always have my respect.
But football doesn’t stop for sentiment.
A number of key players are getting older at the same time and it feels like succession planning hasn’t happened quickly enough. Instead of gradually refreshing the squad, we’re now facing the possibility of needing major surgery across several positions within a relatively short space of time. This feels dangerous.
The squad is still too small for a club with ambitions of competing regularly in Europe. One injury crisis and suddenly we’re stretched again. In fact we are already stretched. One or two key players missing and the quality drops off far too quickly.
Then you look below the first team.
Where are the youngsters?
Every Newcastle United fan loves seeing one of our own come through. Whether it’s a local lad from Wallsend, Gateshead, North Shields or Blyth, there’s nowt that gets St James’ Park going quite like seeing a homegrown player making his mark.
For all the investment in the academy and training ground, there still seems to be a huge gap between youth football and the first team. Other clubs appear capable of producing players who can contribute. Newcastle United still seem overly reliant on buying solutions. That isn’t sustainable forever, it should and has to be the model going forward.
The only realistic option is to buy young, develop and either integrate or sell for profit, on a massive scale. One thing Chelsea have undeniably got right.
Then we come to Eddie Howe.
This is where it gets difficult because I genuinely like the bloke.
He’s conducted himself brilliantly from day one. He understands the city, respects the supporters and has delivered some of the best moments many of us have experienced as Newcastle United fans.
He’ll forever be remembered as the manager who transformed the club. But football doesn’t hand out points for past achievements.
If I’m honest, I’m increasingly frustrated with some aspects of what I’m seeing. We can look predictable.
The intensity and pressing game are fantastic when they’re working, but when teams figure us out or match our energy, we often look short of a Plan B. Too many games have followed a similar pattern. Newcastle struggle to break a side down, the shape remains largely unchanged and supporters are left wondering why we aren’t trying something different.
That also raises questions about the coaching set up. Howe’s trusted group have done an unbelievable job but every successful organisation needs fresh ideas eventually.
As for Eddie Howe himself, I still back him. But my patience isn’t endless. There were a couple of times last season where I was honestly shocked by his post match interviews, he seemed devoid of reasons why things weren’t working.
If Newcastle United start next season slowly, if the same issues keep appearing and if we reach October still asking the same questions we’ve been asking for the last year, then I’ll probably be reaching the end of my patience. For me, Eddie Howe has around ten league games to show that this team is moving forward again.
Not necessarily by winning every match. That’s unrealistic, but by showing evolution. Showing solutions. Showing signs that lessons have been learned.
The thing is, despite all my concerns, I still believe Eddie Howe is capable of delivering it, he’s earned that much. A trophy. European football. Pride in the shirt. Pride in the city. That’s why I for one am not going to call for change. Yet…
Its not been good enough upstairs either. Amateur would be an understatement to reflect the last couple of years. The ownership need to support him. The recruitment team need to deliver. The coaching setup needs to evolve. And Howe himself needs to show he’s willing to adapt.
I think that the first ten games will tell us a lot.
They could confirm the fears that some supporters are beginning to have. Or they could remind us exactly why Eddie Howe became the man who united Tyneside in the first place.
For all my doubts, I’m hoping it’s the latter.
And for now, at least, he still has my backing.