I’m certain the Newcastle United owners are stalling a decision on the new stadium because… | OneFootball

We wanted to get a snapshot of how Newcastle United fans are thinking.

Three months into the season and 17 matches played so far across three competitions.

As we are heading out of the November international break and Newcastle United fans having seen their team win eight games, draw three, lose six.

Those results summing up a start to the season with plenty of ups and downs.

Plenty to talk about as we ask a number of Newcastle United fans, who are regular/irregular contributors to The Mag, to give us their views on the season so far, plus what will happen as we move forward.

Next up is Mark Jankowski answering the questions.

What are your thoughts on the fact that we are now more than four years after the takeover and still no plans announced on a new training ground, nor a far bigger capacity stadium (either brand new one, or an increased capacity St James’ Park)?

I must admit I’m more perplexed by the lack of announcement regarding the training facilities than I am with the stadium. While I’m aware that the existing facilities have been dramatically improved, it seems madness that the club haven’t managed to develop a brand new training facility, especially with all the growth in the academy and with the ladies team.

The stadium is a tricky situation. Having an eye on how stadium development has gone for other clubs, not only in football but in the wider sporting world, I think there’s a lot of pressure on the owners to get that decision right. There was a recent story in the Athletic which highlighted the difference in commercial revenue generated by the Emirates stadium and the Tottenham stadium. Tottenham are able to host multiple non-football events across a year while Arsenal can host just six. The differences in revenue that the stadium generates between these two clubs is considerable.

I’m certain that the Newcastle United owners are stalling a decision on the new stadium, to make sure they can put things in place to allow any future Newcastle United stadium to be used for multiple events, to generate more income. Anyone who knows even a little bit about the politics regarding St James’ Park and neighbouring real estate in Leazes park and the town moor, will know how difficult these negotiations must be. It will take time to secure the kind of deal that the club will want.

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

Frustrated (at the inconsistent form) Pragmatic (that we’ve dropped points against similar opposition to last season and we finished 5th) Confident (that we have a strong squad which Howe will be able to get the best out of)

Alexander Isak – Time to forgive and forget…? 

I can never forgive Alexander Isak for the way he engineered his move in the summer.

However, it is time to move on and forget, at least until he turns up at St. James’s park in the red of Liverpool.

Players have left Newcastle in the past and players will leave Newcastle again in the future, but the underhand way in which Isak forced his move in the summer, shouldn’t sit right with anyone in football.

If you had to choose. A win against Sunderland but lose to Fulham in Carabao Cup quarter-final, or lose to Sunderland and go through to Carabao Cup semi-finals?

Winning in a semi-final and progressing towards winning another trophy should really be everyone’s priority, but I think for the psyche of Newcastle United, it’s essential we beat Sunderland in the derby. I’m still pretty confident that we will win both games but we will need to be much sharper in our performance come that critical week in December.

Would winning the Carabao Cup again this season BUT finishing outside the Premier League top six, be success or failure?

This is a borderline call, however, I think finishing in sixth position but not winning the trophy would be the absolute worst outcome.

I think top five and Champions League qualification is essential for the growth of the of the club at the moment. We all saw how disruptive it was last summer with the Isak transfer saga, that scenario would be exponentially amplified in the media if we were to fail to secure a seat at the top European football competition.

Hand on heart, what is your best estimate (not hope!) of where Newcastle United will end up this season in the Premier League, the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, how well they will realistically do in each of them?

In the Premier League, I’m still confident Newcastle can secure fifth position. Our strength of squad has definitely improved on last year and looking at the squads of the other clubs on paper, while some of the teams that finished above us have pulled away a little in terms of their depth. I don’t think any of the teams behind us have caught us up enough to knock us down a position in the league. Anything less than fifth would be a failure in my opinion.

It’s hard to say with the FA Cup at the moment, but we’ve certainly got an excellent chance of returning to the final of the carabao cup this season.

In the Champions League, I think Newcastle have an excellent opportunity to reach at least the quarter-finals. Any knockout game we play should be seen as a success and a measure of growth of the club.

In order, which six NUFC players have been the most impressive so far this 2025/26 season?

Thiaw Tonali Bruno Woltemade Botman Livramento

In order, by the end of the 2025/26 season, which six NUFC players do you think will have proved the top performers?

Same as above, possibly Wissa to come in

Eight months ago, Eddie Howe banked the first trophy for Newcastle in 56 years, then two months later secured a second Champions League qualification in three years. Some Newcastle fans appear to be questioning his position now. What are your thoughts on Eddie Howe and how much more time has he earned to get the league position sorted and beyond that, or not?

I did the player ratings for the recent game away at Brentford and I took the unusual step of including Eddie Howe in my ratings, as I felt the poor decisions he made that day had a direct influence on the outcome of the game.

That being said, I do think he has a certain amount of credit in the bank and rightly so. To this point in his career at Newcastle United, he’s always managed to find the solution when things have got a little bit tricky. If you cast your mind back 12 months there were similar murmurings as we entered December as our form had become spotty and inconsistent. Howe reacted by making a tactical tweak in midfield, which led to an unprecedented unbeaten run. I have every confidence that Eddie will come up with something to shake off the inconsistencies of the early parts of the season.

What do you think about how the summer transfer window was conducted by Newcastle United?

Ultimately, I think we did pretty good business in the summer. However, the pace in which that business was conducted was frustratingly slow.

Since Eddie Howe’s arrival, Newcastle has been a club where signings have had a tendency to require an adjustment period to the unique demands placed upon them by our coach. We are still seeing players trying to make this adjustment who arrived late in the window. While some have settled quite quickly. I think we won’t see the best out of this squad until after Christmas.

How much do you think Newcastle United having no CEO or Sporting Director contributed to the fact NUFC signed only one player (Elanga) who had a proper pre-season?

It certainly can’t have helped. It’s impossible to know the true impact of the turmoil behind the scenes at the club over the past six to nine months, but hopefully we enter a period where things become a little more stable off the field to allow for effective planning on the field.

In the future after they have all finished their Newcastle United careers, what is your guesstimate on how the six summer signings will each be assessed. In each case – Thiaw, Ramsdale, Ramsey, Woltemade, Elanga and Wissa to be seen as one of these three choices – A success, Done OK, Failure.

As things stand I’m optimistic that all of these players will be looked back on as a success at the club. The only player that potentially may not fit into this category is Aaron Ramsdale. However, that’s solely because of the fact he’s only on loan at the moment and may not get the opportunity to showcase his abilities to the fullest.

What do you see as three positive things for Newcastle United so far this season?

Firstly, the way in which Malick Thiaw has settled into the starting line-up is something to behold. I will admit that I wasn’t overly excited at his arrival, I certainly didn’t think he was a bad signing, but it did feel like there may have been better options out there at the time. Looking back, I couldn’t have been more wrong, I can’t remember a defender having settled so quickly in the league.

Secondly, our smooth progress in the cup competitions up to this point of the season. We’ve looked very comfortable in the defence of our League Cup to this point. In the Champions League, we’ve also been impressive managing games really well and in my opinion we are unlucky not to be unbeaten to this point of the competition. A Marcus Rashford wonder goal is the only reason we’ve lost a game at this stage.

Finally, I would consider some of our behind the scenes appointments (New CEO David Hopkinson pictured below) to be a positive thing for the club. I’m optimistic that having a settled and ambitious setup behind the scenes will allow for focus instability on the pitch.

What do you see as three negative things for Newcastle United so far this season?

Number one has got to be are inconsistent form in the league. We started the season defensively sound away from home and you could forgive our struggles in front of goal because of the situation regarding our strikers. However, at this stage in the season, those excuses are starting to wear out and the confident performances in the cup competitions are highlighting the difference in the league. We’ve certainly not been awful but there is a lot of room for improvement.

Number two is the injuries to our young full-backs and the lack of depth behind them in those positions. Trippier has had a decent season so far and Dan Burn has also played well at times. However, the lack of mobility possessed in comparison to Tino and Lewis Hall has definitely hampered our performances. One of the areas I’d be looking at for January is some suitable competition for Lewis Hall at left-back.

Sunderland are now back in the same division and at this moment ahead of NUFC, your thoughts?

I try not to think about them if I can help it. In all honesty, I did think they would start reasonably well and I’ve only been surprised by the Chelsea and Arsenal results to this point. They spent a lot of money and managed to hit on a few of those players but if they finish outside of the bottom half at the end of the season I’d be massively surprised.

What would represent success in the 2025/26 season for Newcastle United?

Securing a top five finish and a run to at least the knockout stages of the Champions League would be a successful season for Newcastle United. If we can manage a run to the final in one of domestic cups too, that would be the cherry on top.

What do you see as the minimum to achieve this coming season?

We have to get Champions League football and for me this is the absolute minimum target that the club should be looking to achieve. The only way missing out on Champions League for next year could be tolerated, is if we were to go on and win more silverware this season. For me that has to be secondary to the long-term stability of the club, which the Champions League would bring.

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

Arsenal Man City Chelsea Liverpool Newcastle United Villa (although this could be Spurs)

With NUFC now having won a trophy…has that changed your priorities at all with the club now balancing getting Champions League football on a regular basis, compared to try and win cups?

My opinion on this hasn’t changed for a few years now. While I was utterly delighted at the Cup win last season, in modern football being in the Champions League is such a big deal for a club in our position. We need to close the gap commercially with clubs like Spurs, Liverpool, and Chelsea. The only way we can do that is by showcasing ourselves at the top level.

Next three seasons, would you rather finish top four all three seasons BUT win nothing, or finish mid-table all three seasons AND win the FA Cup in one of the three?

Top four all three seasons for me, for the reasons I’ve laid out above.

If Newcastle United were to look to the transfer market to strengthen the team/squad in January, what do you see as the priority (or priorities…)?

Some competition at left back would be my first port of call. Next up, I’d be looking for some more flair and creativity in the final third of the pitch. Be that an attacking midfielder or another wide player. Finally, I think there is an argument to be made that we could upgrade in the centre of midfield to provide a bit more strength in depth.

Would you say winning the Carabao Cup last season has made you more content, or now more desperate to get the next one?

I think if you’re content in elite sports you may as well not bother. The aim of the club should always be to strive for more and I think us as fans should expect that from our club.