Why this season feels so uncertain as a Newcastle United fan

Hope you are all doing well, I am in my 40s and a long time Newcastle United fan living in Australia.

I eventually got the chance in September to come and see my first game at St James’ Park against Hull – it was brilliant.

I watch all the matches, read, listen to pods etc and have played all my life (I’m 42).

I’m also into the tactical side of things and have undertaken some of my coaching badges here in Australia.

I’m sharing my first submission to The Mag about why I think this season feels so uncertain as a Newcastle United fan.

Newcastle United are a club of ups and downs – we all know that. The club’s current reality feels like we’re on the way down, though in reality it is more like a straight line from last season than any sort of significant change :

2026/27 13th place in the Premier League after 9 games. 11 points in those 9 games at an average of 1.22 points per game.
2025/26 12th place in the Premier League after 38 games. 49 points in those 38 games at an average of 1.28 points per game.

There are lots of reasons that this season feels more ominous than last season, though primarily it’s because we have no clear idea what to expect from this manager and from this group and players. We don’t know what to expect.

Fear of the unknown

For Newcastle United fans, this season is full of unknowns.

Who is this manager?

Is he any good?

Can he adjust to a new league?

Can we win without Bruno?

Was Eddie Howe keeping our heads above water?

What’s this Newcastle 2.0?

Who on earth are half of these new players?

Are THEY any good?

Could we… go down, or could we actually end up being alright with a few tweaks?

Never in recent years have Newcastle United fans had so much to be uncertain about.

Under the management of Eddie Howe, there was certainty. We knew him and he knew us. There was no chance we were getting relegated under Howe, even through last season’s struggles.

We knew he knew the league. We knew he knew how to win games in this league. We knew he knew the histories, we knew he knew just what a cold, wet night in Stoke meant. We knew he could (mostly) improve players on an individual basis and get the best out of them. We knew the players respected him, liked him and trusted him. We knew his tactics and his style, and we knew they worked (mostly).

We knew Howe’s team. We knew that when the chips were down, Bruno would take the lead. We knew he’d demand the ball, that he’d try with every last ounce of determination and skill to create something, to inspire his teammates and to inspire the fans. We knew big Joe had his back and would kick someone if he had to, or even if he didn’t. We knew we had a threat up front or out wide to hurt opponents. We knew we had guys who could score goals in the Premier League. We knew Tripps wouldn’t stand for a team that didn’t give their all. We knew we had high standards, kept by high quality players who had done it all and seen it all.

Now, all that safety and certainty is gone and you know what – it’s freaking us out. Without the guard-rails that the certainty of Howe provided for us, we’re contemplating the worst. We’re scared of free fall. We’re not cautiously optimistic – we’re venturing towards riotously pessimistic.

This is the fear of the unknown.

Fear creates doubt

So, now, after a similar start to last season in terms of points, we’re worried. Not worried like we were last year – this time it’s different. We’re worried because we’ve got no idea what comes next. We’ve got no idea how Matthias Jaissle responds or what he might do to get a tune out of this team. We’ve got no real indication yet that this group of players can actually deliver at this level, under any manager.

We don’t know how PIF, David Hopkinson and Ross Wilson will respond to this, because they haven’t had to before. We don’t fully know whether they even know what they’re doing to be honest. They seem to for the most part, but here we are nine league games in, with fingernails dwindling, a hard run of games ahead and a bunch of youngsters or also rans to take us through to the derby and Christmas and the crazy winter schedule..,so maybe they don’t know what they’re doing?

The knowns

So, while we gaze into the unknown, let’s also think about the knowns. We know we’ve got a great set of fans. We know that when St James’ Park is rocking we can get the team over the line against almost anyone. We know this year they might well need that and they’ll need us behind them to succeed in this league.

We know we’re in transition. We know we care. We know we want the team to succeed whoever the manager is, wherever he’s from and whoever is on the pitch. We know it’s going to be turbulent because when has it ever not been? And we also know, we don’t want to support anyone else.