This is the minimum that Newcastle United need to achieve this upcoming season
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Newcastle United fans preparing for the 2026/27 Premier League season.
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Less than three 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 The Armchair Fan:
What do you now see as the minimum Newcastle United need to achieve this coming season?
Top eight in the league, a run to at least the semi-finals of one of the cups and six points from the derbies.
When the takeover happened on 7 October 2021, if somebody at that point had told you then what would happen by August 2026, would you have taken it?
Definitely yes!!!! A million times! People forget just how awful things were before the takeover and I would have been ecstatic at the thought of two cup finals, two champions league campaigns, some incredible European nights and one of those big shiny things that has earned Eddie Howe a place in our hearts forever.
Three words to describe how you currently feel as a Newcastle United fan?
Uncertain, unsure and undecided!
Three words to describe Newcastle United now?
State of transition
Do you see it as good news or bad news that Eddie Howe resigned?
I personally see it as bad news as I felt he brought a lot of stability to the club and saw no reason why he couldn’t once again lead us towards the European places.
I liked him as a manager and he seemed a decent bloke, always coming across well in the media. I also feel he’d earned a lot of credit over the past five years with avoiding relegation, qualifying for two champions league campaigns, taking us to our first cup final in twenty-four years and of course that memorable day at Wembley when all of our dreams came true. If he felt it was the right time for him to go then fair enough, there’s no denying that last season was something of a slog (certainly in the league) but I would have liked to see him stay for another year or two at least.
Hand on heart, what position do you currently believe Newcastle United are most likely to finish in the 2026/27 Premier League season?
Absolutely impossible to say!
I’ve never heard of this new manager and, as expected, we’ve had a complete overhaul of the first team. Newcastle are hard to predict at the best of times with our Jekyll and Hyde nature. I’m hoping that this season turns out to be something similar to 11/12 when we lost Nolan, Barton and Enrique having sold Carroll a few months earlier. Everyone was writing us off and we ended up finishing fifth, winning matches against Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and the Mackems in one of the most enjoyable seasons we’d had for years.
If Eddie Howe had stayed would your 2026/27 prediction have been different (up or down…)?
I guess I would have had slightly more confidence as I had complete trust in Eddie. Everyone has to start somewhere though and it’s important to get behind this new guy and hope we hit the ground running.
If Bruno leaves, who do you think would be best choice of NUFC captain?
Burn, Schar, Joelinton or Miley. An interesting mix of personalities there, one or two could hype things up in the dressing room whilst others would provide a calmer presence. I like the thought of a local lad being given the armband especially with two upcoming games (and hopefully wins) against a certain team based twelve miles south of the Tyne this season.
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?
The first two matches provide huge challenges but the next four (on paper at least) give us a big chance to get points on the board. If we can draw with Liverpool or Spurs and then beat Bournemouth, Leeds, Hull and Coventry then thirteen points would have me very happy with our start to the season. The reality of course may well be somewhat different. It would be absolutely typical for Newcastle to hammer Liverpool or Spurs and then undo all that hard work at home to Bournemouth or Hull (no disrespect to those teams).
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)
Complete 50/50. Ask me again at 7.45pm on Sun 23rd August …actually maybe wait until the next morning once I’ve sobered up!
Anthony Gordon leaving, your thoughts?
I didn’t mind Gordon but felt he had a tendency to go missing in some matches, he was either all or nothing and at times it was difficult to shoehorn both him and Barnes into the same line up. If he was ready to leave, the club got a massive fee and Barnes gets more game time into the bargain then that’s probably a win for all parties.
Predict the top six in the Premier League (in order) and which three clubs will be relegated in 2026/27.
I think the usual suspects will be there or there abouts – Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool etc. I also think Man United will have a good season although it pains me to say it. I think Villa will be up there too and build on last year. I’m also expecting vast improvements from both Chelsea and Tottenham. If we can scrap it out with those teams and achieve a top eight finish then that’ll do me.
In terms of relegation, it’s hard to look past the three promoted teams although I will be keeping an interested eye on a certain red and white striped team who may just struggle with the additional fixtures of a European campaign.
NUFC CEO David Hopkinson said the intention is that by 2030 the club will be competing to win all competitions. What do you make of what he said?
I think that quote has perhaps been blown out of proportion if anyone was taking it completely literally. It was more likely that he was trying to highlight the ambition of the owners in a ‘sky’s the limit’ kind of way. There’s no denying that money talks in this day and age of football and eventually the type of money we have will naturally lead to progression. We’ve already won our first trophy in fifty-six years and competed in the last sixteen of the champions league for the first time in a generation. Five years ago, we wouldn’t have believed that could be possible so who knows what a few more years can bring.
How would you rate your optimism for next season at Newcastle United from 0-100?
I guess I’ve answered this question earlier, I’m sitting on the fence with a fifty out of hundred for now. As I’ve now reached my fourth decade on planet Earth (and my third as an NUFC fanatic), I try not to get ecstatically high or desperately low based on a single result but ask me again after ten matches. If we’re in and around the top six and still in the cup then my optimism will be much higher. Here’s hoping!.
How important (or not) is a huge new stadium for Newcastle United?
I may be in the minority here but I’d be devastated to say goodbye to St James’ Park for a number of reasons, some are sentimental but others are due to the iconic status and incredible position right in the heart of the city (a fitting metaphor). I’d be happy with an extension and keeping the famous stadium.
Bruno Guimaraes wanting to leave Newcastle United after four and a half years, has that changed your opinion of him as a person?
No. I’ll be disappointed to see him go and would have loved him to stay but he’s a professional footballer and these things happen. He’s done a sterling job in his time here and provided a number of incredible memories. If he feels the time is right for him to move on then I’d rather have someone hungry to play for NUFC and prove themselves. It is a shame as I was expecting Gordon and Tonali to leave but Bruno was the one I was really hoping would stay so we could build a team around him.
Who would you have liked to see replace Eddie Howe, Matthias Jaissle or somebody else?
I guess as I never wanted him to leave, the answer would have been no one, as in an ideal world Eddie would be staying on. I did have romantic notions of Jose Mourinho finishing his managerial career at St James’ and completing Sir Bobby’s work as a tribute to his former mentor. Things are never dull at the best (or worst) of times at NUFC but what a ride it would have been to have the special one at the wheel!