There was a time, not particularly long ago, when Newcastle supporters would have bitten your hand off for a season spent somewhere around the top half of the Premier League, looking upwards towards the European places and actually enjoying the football along the way.
Expectations have changed rather dramatically since then. The takeover changed them, Champions League football accelerated them and the wealth behind the club inevitably created the belief that Newcastle’s journey towards the top would
happen considerably quicker than it has.
As another Premier League season begins, I find myself wanting something slightly different from Newcastle United. A bit of stability.
That doesn’t mean accepting mediocrity or abandoning the ambition that came with the takeover. Newcastle should be looking upwards, and European football has to remain an objective, although I don’t think this squad currently has the quality or depth to seriously expect Champions League qualification.
A top half finish, a genuine push towards Europe and some evidence that Matthias Jaissle is building a team capable of going further next season would represent a perfectly respectable year to me. That might sound unambitious considering who owns Newcastle United, but it might also be exactly what the club needs.
The Jaissle era starts here
There is something exciting about beginning again. Jaissle brings a different style, a young squad has an opportunity to develop with him, and the early indications suggest Newcastle want to play quick, aggressive and entertaining football.
There will inevitably be mistakes while that takes shape. A new manager implementing a new system with a squad that has undergone significant change is unlikely to produce a finished product in Autumn, and judging the entire project on the first few months would simply repeat the impatience that has become increasingly common around modern football.
I’m cautiously optimistic about Jaissle, although being a football supporter probably requires at least a small amount of irrational optimism every August.
Newcastle still have young talent with room to improve; there is clearly a plan to develop the squad rather than continually rebuild it and the club appears to be thinking much further ahead than the next transfer window. The concern is whether Jaissle currently has enough to work with.
This squad still needs help
Two more signings before the window closes would change the complexion of Newcastle’s season considerably. Midfield is the obvious concern.
The departures this summer have stripped away quality, experience and personality, with Bruno Guimarães leaving a particularly large hole. Replacing Bruno isn’t simply a matter of finding somebody capable of receiving the ball in midfield and completing passes.
Newcastle have lost character. They have lost aggression, leadership and somebody willing to take responsibility when a game becomes difficult. Those qualities become particularly important in a young team, where experience around developing players can be as valuable as another exciting prospect.
Newcastle’s recruitment has understandably focused heavily on youth and potential, although there comes a point where potential needs somebody beside it who has already been there. I’d like to see at least one midfielder arrive who brings some edge with him. Somebody experienced enough to manage games, vocal enough to demand more from those around him and unpleasant enough that the opposition knows he’s there.
Another addition elsewhere would give Jaissle options across a long Premier League season and reduce the danger of a couple of injuries turning a promising team into a stretched one. Without those additions, expecting Newcastle to compete seriously for the European places feels optimistic.
A different kind of Newcastle
The difficult adjustment since 2021 has been accepting that Newcastle’s route towards the top isn’t going to look quite like we imagined it would. The assumption after the takeover was fairly obvious. Extremely wealthy owners arrive, excellent footballers follow, and Newcastle rapidly close the gap on the established elite.
Football’s financial regulations have made the reality considerably more complicated. We can argue about whether those rules protect sustainability or protect the advantage accumulated by the clubs already at the top, and Newcastle supporters will understandably hope the system eventually becomes fairer to ambitious clubs attempting to grow.
Newcastle cannot build their future around waiting for that to happen; they have to find another way. That is why some of the less glamorous Newcastle news this summer might actually be more poignant.
The Woolsington Hall training ground project represents serious long-term infrastructure investment. SumUp arriving as a training kit sponsor creates another commercial income stream, while reports of STACK securing new backing from Coca-Cola are another example of Newcastle seeking ways to make more from the enormous interest surrounding the club.
Newcastle United need to increase the amount of money the club generates if they want to increase what they can sustainably spend. That means sponsorship, retail, hospitality, infrastructure, academy development and finding commercial value in parts of the club that previously generated none or very little. It isn’t the revolution many pictured five years ago, although it could prove to be the foundation of something much more sustainable.
The stadium decision now feels like the enormous missing piece. More seats, better hospitality and greater matchday and non-matchday income could transform Newcastle’s earning potential while allowing thousands more supporters through the doors. After the training ground announcement and the continued growth commercially, some clarity over St James’ Park would make the wider direction of the club considerably easier to understand.
What would actually make this a good season?
Success doesn’t have to mean Champions League qualification. I’d like Newcastle to reach May looking better than they do in August. I want to see a recognisable Jaissle team rather than players still trying to work out what their manager wants from them. I want the younger players to be noticeably improved, the football to be quick and exciting and St James’ Park to feel difficult for visiting teams again.
I want Newcastle competing for Europe deep into the season rather than spending February onwards looking down and worrying which of the relegation-battling teams could catch them.
A cup run wouldn’t hurt either, and beating Sunderland at home this season is a must for me. Most importantly, I’d like some stability. The last few years have taught Newcastle supporters how quickly expectations can move. Champions League football arrived ahead of schedule and suddenly became the standard against which everything afterwards was measured.
This version of Newcastle United isn’t ready to dominate English football and pretending otherwise only guarantees disappointment. There are new holes in the squad, a new manager is beginning his first season, and some of the club’s biggest infrastructure and commercial projects will take years rather than months to bear fruit.
None of that means the ambition has disappeared; it just means the timeline has changed. The beginning of a new season is upon us and, in many ways, another version of Newcastle United.
Jaissle has an opportunity to build something young, quick and exciting. The club is slowly developing the infrastructure and commercial income required to support greater ambition, and another couple of sensible additions before the window closes would make the immediate future look considerably healthier.
For this season, I’ll take progress, stability, a push for Europe and a Newcastle side that gives us a reason to believe the next step is coming. Although if they could sign that midfielder first, I’d feel considerably better about it.
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