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 Davey Hat-Trick:
What would represent success in the 2026/27 season for Newcastle United?
Eighth, with a sniff of Europe’s third-ranked competition. But that would just mask our main issue…
What do you see as the minimum to achieve this coming season?
…which is that we can’t pay the wages that others can. If we have a good season, our best players will go, if they’re not off already. Thanks to the PL’s rules on spend, we are ALWAYS going to be rebuilding. Liverpool trebled Isak’s wages (something they may be regretting in hindsight!). If Man City, manure, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Barca, Real or PSG came brandishing their cheque books, our top players will be off, no matter how badly it upsets Newcastle United fans. Some fans seem to think that a high transfer fee is the ultimate demonstration of financial muscle. It isn’t. Wages are, and in the current climate, money talks louder than loyalty.
Three words to describe how you currently feel as a Newcastle United fan?
Flat, bored, frustrated
Three words to describe Newcastle United now?
Pedestrian, repetitive, unimaginative
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 30%
Eddie Howe 10%
The players 15%
Newcastle United owners (not dealing properly with Isak situation, not having senior staff in place etc to help get summer 2025 transfers done etc) 40%
Bad luck and small margins 5%
What rating out of 10 would you give each of the permanent summer 2025 signings for their contributions across the 2025/26?
Anthony Elanga 2
Jacob Ramsey 6
Malick Thiaw 8
Yoane Wissa 2
Nick Woltemade 6
What do you see as the biggest priorities in the transfer market this summer?
Depends who leaves, but assuming no one apart from Gordon…. I’ll say the same as I said 12 months ago – we need a proper defensive midfielder. A young centre back would be good, not necessarily for this season, but next. A full back is essential, given that Krafth and Trippier have left, and Tino is made of glass. Up front, God knows. I don’t see Barnes as a winger (in that he seldom takes his man on), Elanga has been abysmal and Murphy has declined. Wissa doesn’t even look like a footballer, Woltemade is clearly talented but struggling to fit, which means Osula has become our first-choice striker via a process of elimination. To be fair, he has done well, but we are terribly light up front. If we were allowed to spend, then I’d want a new front three, but I suspect we’ll need to settle for a solitary winger. But the main priority for me is rapidity. Whoever is leaving needs to be gone before the players report back for pre-season, and their replacements need to be reporting for duty on day one.
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)?
Gordon was a definite upgrade, but he hasn’t looked interested for a while, and he often looked disinterested across his time in black and white. I’m happy with the decision to let him go and I’m glad he left in a good way. He’ll need to improve his attitude and his contribution to be a success at Barca – I’d say it’s 50/50 whether he will or won’t. I’m not bothered either way.
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)?
Hard to say with a rat like Isak.
Given his lack of pre-season, plus his capacity to pick up injuries while doing very little, I think the best-case scenario would be the same Isak as Liverpool saw. Unfit, slow, clumsy, clueless.
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.
Seriously? I’m going to assume Tino and Tonali stay, and I’m going to further assume that we have zero chance of signing a number nine better than what we have. In my fantasy team, there would be two or three more ‘new signings’, but realistically…
New signing
Tino
Thiaw
Botman
Hall
Tonali
Bruno
Miley
New signing
Osula
Barnes
Is Eddie Howe still in charge next season the correct decision?
Yes – although he’s on thinner ice than he has been before. The ‘Eddie out’ brigade seem to think there are managers out there who we could afford and attract, and who would guarantee an uplift in performance and results. I can’t think of any, so for me, Eddie is our best bet.
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?
Livramento will stay, I think. His injury record will deter potential suitors, and his main admirer is no longer at Manchester City. We won’t lose Bruno AND Tonali, and my gut instinct (not to be trusted!) is that they will give us one more season. So will Hall and Thiaw, I believe. If Bruno wanted out, I’d let him go and make Tonali captain.
Which players emerge with credit for the 2025/26 season?
Not many. Bruno, Osula and Thiaw are the obvious ones for me. Barnes was OK, as was BDB and Lewis Hall. Miley showed promise in patches. I also think Woltemade demonstrated a lot of talent but in a team that he doesn’t suit.
Predict the top six in the Premier League (in order) and which three clubs will be relegated in 2026/27.
Well, I was completely wrong last year, but… Arsenal, Liverpool, manure, Man City, Villa, Spurs for top six. Relegated? Ipswich, Hull, mackems
Which eight current Newcastle United players (in order) are the most important to keep for the 2026/27 season?
In no particular order – Livramento, Thiaw, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Osula, Miley, Botman.
At what point did you first think the 2025/26 Newcastle United wasn’t going to turn out as you had hoped it would?
Hmm – hard to remember when I got the first inkling, as we put on some creditable performances even in some games we didn’t win. But I KNEW after the first game against the mackems. We were awful. No skill, no belief, no desire.
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)?
I honestly couldn’t hazard a guess. It would appear that we are looking at young talent from Sweden, Italy and other leagues where bargains are to be found. I don’t know enough about those leagues to comment, but it’s worked in the past. Of the players I did know before they signed last year, only Ramsey has done enough to show why we signed him. The thing is, I didn’t really rate him, but I did rate Wissa and Elanga, and they have fallen way below expectations.
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?
It’s hard not to get the impression that their interest has waned and that’s not a great surprise. People with unlimited funds tend to be able to spend their money how they please, and I have no doubt the PIF are used to doing exactly that. In most industries, people putting fresh money in is regarded as a good thing. But the PL and UEFA are in the business of protecting the clubs that see Newcastle as a potential threat, so our owners will be frustrated.
Hopkinson sounds like what he is – a face with no real power, so he says what he is told to say. He’s like one of those junior MPs that are sent on to Question Time to defend their party when they’ve had a disaster.
Practically, and I think this is worth stating – friends of mine who deal with Saudi businesses say they are notoriously slow at making decisions. Everything has to be signed off by a whole raft of stakeholders. If you’re building a factory or buying 20 aircraft, that makes sense, but in the world of football, it doesn’t work. I’ll say this again – we miss Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi. We seemed much more agile when they were on the strength.
How would you rate your optimism for next season at Newcastle United from 0-100?
30%. 40% after a drink or two
Will you be taking an active interest in the Newcastle players at the World Cup?
A mild interest. Funny – the older I get, the less bothered I am about England, but I will watch them in the World Cup. However, I doubt Dan Burn and Tino will get much pitch time. I do see Thiaw, Nick and Bruno getting game time, and as long as they’re not kicking off at 3am, I might watch them. I have no interest in watching Wissa get injured again and I’d be shocked if Anthony Elanga gets a minute for Sweden. They lost to Norway the other day, and he was one of seven outfield players taken off at half time when Sweden were 3-0 down. A mate of mine (not a Toon fan) who saw it said Elanga was comfortably the worst player on the pitch.
When Anthony Gordon is playing at the World Cup will you still be thinking of him as one of our own?
Yes – I wish him well. England too, But I suspect AG will be on his way to his new home after the quarter finals.
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 refer the right honourable gentleman to my previous comments. England are a quarter final team at this level and in that weather. Good midfield, decent attack, poor defence. Spain, Argentina and France are comfortably better than them, Germany always turn up. Brazil are under new management, and there’s always a dark horse. Mine is Colombia this year, but that is because señora Hat-Trick is from there. I’ll watch England, and some of the ‘bigger’ games, but thus far, Cape Verde v Saudi Arabia has not piqued my interest.