Everyone has got a plan until they get punched in the face

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 the questions we have Simon Cahill:

Do you think the Newcastle United owners have a strong long-term plan for the club, or are they making it up as they go along?

I think it’s been tricky for the owners of the club to have a long-term plan when they keep, for whatever reason, having big changes in the people that actually build and write those plans. So initially, yes, maybe there was a longer-term plan for the club, but plans have to be made up at some point, and right now we’re at step one of that new plan. So it’s hard to know if it’s a strong one. And as Mike Tyson once said, everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.

Hand on heart, what position do you currently believe Newcastle United are most likely to finish in the 2026/27 Premier League season?

Sixteenth. Right now, I’d be happy with that. It’s going to be a rough season unless something dramatic happens in the transfer window in the next two weeks.

If we survive, we may be in a better position with some experience in the squad, but right now it’s not looking great.

By say Christmas and with all players fit, 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.

Goalkeeper: Hornicek
Right-back: Tino Livramento
Left-back: Lewis Hall
Centre-backs: Dan Burn and Malick Thiaw
Central midfield: Lewis Miley and new signing
Left wing: Harvey Barnes
Right wing: Anthony Elanga
Number 10: Nick Woltemade
Number 9: William Osula

Three words to describe how you currently feel as a Newcastle United fan?

Receptive, anxious, excited.

Three words to describe Newcastle United now?

Chaotic, vulnerable, and hopeful.

Three words to describe this summer 2026 NUFC transfer window so far?
Revealing, weak, youthful.

Do you see it as good news or bad news that Eddie Howe resigned?

I think for this one the proof’s in the pudding but initially I thought it was bad news, even though I now understand it was completely the right decision for him, given what has transpired since. His team had been taken apart and he was basically starting from scratch. I think he leaves untainted by trying to recover the position that he would have found himself in this season. In my mind, he has been one of the greatest managers the club has ever had.

Do you think Newcastle United would have had more or less chance of having a successful 2026/27 season if Eddie Howe had stayed?

In the context of success being staying in the Premier League, I think it would have been maybe slightly more successful, i.e. potentially more mid-table. Right now we look like relegation battlers and we are looking for three weaker teams.

Do you see a potential lack of leadership on the pitch next season with Bruno Guimaraes following Kieran Trippier out of the club?

I think Dan Burn is the perfect captain, but we need more experience, particularly in midfield. The other thing is with Dan Burn, he’s starting to age, as is Fabian Schar, as is Jacob Murphy – those senior players that are left in the squad. So yes, I think it’s difficult to see where the leadership will come from across the pitch.

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?

Liverpool at home and Spurs away is a tough start, so I don’t think we’ll get any points there. Bournemouth at home is a bogey team, but they’ve gone through a lot of change in the past couple of seasons. Hopefully they’re weaker for it, so maybe we get our first points there. Leeds, Hull and Coventry, I think, become must-win games already, because some of those teams are the ones you’d like to see below us.

Ideally, eight points from those games would be an excellent start, given our current state. In terms of reality, nought to three points.

What do you see as the biggest priorities in the remainder of the transfer market this summer?

I think we desperately need more experience in centre midfield, another striker, and a reserve left-back.

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?

I’m probably on about 75% fear and 25% hope. It has been a monumental change in the club, in the dressing room, on the pitch, and with the background staff as well. That kind of change means the lack of familiarity, consistency, and togetherness has all been impacted. And the place where that is mostly going to be felt is on the pitch, starting with Liverpool in a couple of days’ time.

Anthony Gordon leaving, your thoughts?

I think based on his performances last season, it was a good bit of business. It was clear that his head had been turned early on. Although he turned it on in the Champions League, his form was up and down in the Premier League. And for that kind of money, I think it’s good business for us.

To be honest, I wish him well. He brought us some great moments in the Champions League and in the cup run. And we’ll see how he does at Barcelona.

Sandro Tonali leaving, your thoughts?

This one stung a bit more, mostly because it was Spurs. But again, fantastic business. Another player that probably didn’t play his best last season in, let’s face it, what was a tricky season throughout. I really liked him. His engine is something I’ve never seen before. He could run all day, chasing down lost causes, putting pressure on people. We probably didn’t see a lot of his technical ability, especially in the latter half of his time here.

But again, for that kind of money, that’s good business. Obviously, I hope Spurs as a team do terribly this season, though.

What would represent success now in the 2026/27 season for Newcastle United?

Honestly, staying up. The pace and the volume of change in this pre-season, and what we’ve seen on the pitch so far, I think staying in the Premier League is the biggest goal for this season. Again, unless there’s some really good business done in the last weeks of the transfer window.

What do you now see as the minimum Newcastle United need to achieve this coming season?

Again, staying up. I think for the future of the club, for the future of the ownership, all of that needs to happen in the Premier League. And going down, I think we’d see a ruthless side to the PIF, and we don’t want that.

Predict the top six in the Premier League (in order) and which three clubs will be relegated in 2026/27.

I’m going to be really boring here and go with absolutely no surprises in the top six. Unfortunately, I think that’s just what PSR has done for the Premier League.

My top six would be Arsenal, followed by Man City, then Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United, and Spurs. Spurs, I think, have done some good business in the summer transfer window. They’re not going to make the same mistake again, and I think they’ll be a different team this coming season.

The three clubs to be relegated, I hope, will be Hull, Coventry, and Ipswich. I think the gap’s too big between the Premier League and the Championship now, or at least I hope so.

Which eight current Newcastle United players (in order) are going to be most important for the 2026/27 season?

1. Wissa – He has to score 15-20 goals this season or he’s been a waste of money.
2. Lewis Miley – The potential to be a future club captain. If he can stay fit this season, he can fill a massive role as one of the pivots, taking the ball from the defence and starting attacks.
3. Lewis Hall – Essentially has to stay fit; probably our best player.
4. Malick Thiaw – Started so strongly but started to show signs of cracking, albeit in a crazy amount of fixtures last season. Will need support from Burn, Schar and Botman.
5. Botman – Signed a contract extension last season but has looked vulnerable in pre-season. We need the old Botman back.
6. Woltemade – Has to come good. His price tag is starting to look silly.
7. Hornicek – Personally, I thought he could have done better with some of the goals in the recent friendlies. Needs to do better as he’ll be busy this season.
8. Elanga – Another one that needs to prove his worth this season.

Some time ago Yasir Al-Rumayyan said the intention was to make Newcastle United number one in the world, how far along the road to that do you think we are?

I think on the pitch, we’re pretty much back to where we started with Eddie Howe post-avoiding-relegation season. We have a long way to go there, and this feels like a complete reset of the project. Commercially, we’ve moved forward, we’ve done some better deals and have some better partnerships, but we’re really not going to be able to take any steps on the journey until we finalise a better commercial model with a new stadium. And there are plenty of examples around the Premier League where that has had the biggest impact.

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 comes back to 25% hope. That target is three seasons away. We’re just not going to be there. Unless we ride our luck again in the transfer window, find players that can pull the club forward beyond what is currently the claustrophobic approach of SCR, and take us beyond our commercial means.

How would you rate your optimism for next season at Newcastle United from 0-100?

I think it’s low. I can’t help repeating the number 25 in my head. But I can’t see it being any higher than that. Everything’s too new: the players, the coach, the playing style, the transfer approach. And it hasn’t led to the greatest results in pre-season, albeit they’re friendlies, and the opinion is always that they don’t really matter. But just from watching how uncohesive the performances were, it doesn’t give me much room for optimism.

How important (or not) is a huge new stadium for Newcastle United?

Fundamentally, it’s the most important thing we can do to take the club forward, given the current financial conditions. Spurs, Arsenal and Man City have all benefited from improving their matchday revenues and their commercial model through new stadiums. Even the likes of Everton are going to start to benefit from this soon and eclipse us. For the following that we have, the support that we can generate, I think this is the most crucial commercial decision we can make, and will set us up for any future success.

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?

A hundred percent yes. The journey that we’ve been on since that takeover has been one of the best in my time as a Newcastle fan. I had my season ticket for pretty much the entirety of the Mike Ashley reign, and the match was a way of ruining a nice day out with your friends. Since then, we’ve been to Dortmund, we’ve been to Paris, we’ve had some amazing experiences, and that’s what supporting this great club should be about.

So yes, if somebody told me that was what was going to happen, I would have taken it. The season that followed the takeover, where we qualified for the Champions League, was probably always going to be one of the toughest seasons to beat, because our expectations were so low. We’re now at a point as a fan base where our expectations have changed, and fundamentally that makes us more difficult to please. But the motivation behind that is because of the journey that we’ve been on in those past five years with Eddie Howe and the team that he built.

So do I want more? Yes. Am I worried about what the future holds? Definitely. But I would never take back the journey that we’ve been on in that time.

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 don’t blame him. I think the writing was on the wall for him with the changes the club were making in the background, and the vision and strategy going forward. Not helped by the commercial environment the Premier League chooses to operate in, and also the ambitions of the club themselves.

I think he’s been a fantastic servant for the club. He was the poster boy of the takeover, and he was our go-to man in every tight spot and dark place on the pitch to get us through games. Also, his character was fantastic, and we’ll never forget his speech at the cup final parade day, where he was politely asked not to swear. I wish him all the best. I just wish it wasn’t at Arsenal.

Claimed back in October 2021 that Newcastle United was simply a ‘Sportswashing’ project for Saudi Arabia, has that proved to be the reality?

I think what we’ve seen with the project so far is a very savvy commercial investment by an incredibly rich state. I think additionally we’re starting to see to what degree we are thought of in terms of that investment and the risks and the strategy that they’re willing to get involved in. I think they’ve played the game as straight as they can do, and they will continue to do so, which also means the big dreams of massive money and huge transfers will only stretch as far as our commercial model will actually allow us.

In some corners, I think there is an argument that sportswashing, in its true definition, has happened here at Newcastle. But I leave that to the people that hold that opinion. I think it’s up to us as fans to keep the values of the club alive, no matter what the ownership is. And I hope that will continue to happen.

What do you think of the choice of Matthias Jaissle as the new NUFC boss?

I think it’s a really exciting appointment. I think he’s got an incredibly tough job because he’s bringing in a new system with new players. And some of those players don’t have half the experience that Eddie Howe had so far, unless there are some big changes in our transfer business.

Right now, I’m pretty excited about what he could bring. I think he’s the right type of manager for us: young, passionate, hungry. I think he needs those players around him to be able to deliver what he needs on the pitch. Hopefully he gets that.

Who would you have liked to see replace Eddie Howe, Matthias Jaissle or somebody else?

My knowledge of available managers for our level of club is weak, to be honest. What I’d like to think is that those in charge have done their research and found the right man for the job. If it was somebody else, he’d probably be in this same template: young, hungry, probably not as proven as some. And again, that’s probably down to the fact that the strategy at the club has changed, and they need to marry up their investment strategy on the pitch with a manager who understands what that project is. So, right now, Jaissle’s the man.

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