I was at St James’ Park, my socks and shoes were soaked in beer… | OneFootball

Newcastle United fans have just seen the 2024/25 Premier League season come to its end.

A season that has proved to be quite magnificent.

As one season ends though, thoughts immediately turn to what comes next, only 11 weeks to go until the 2025/26 Premier League kicks off.

An ideal time to get a snapshot of views from Newcastle United fans on their thoughts, both on the season that has just ended AND what is to now follow.

So we sent out questions to a number of regular/irregular contributors to The Mag.

Next up answering the questions we have Davey Hat-Trick:

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

Fulfilled, confident, optimistic

Three words to describe Newcastle United now?

Serious, fun, improving

Does 2024/25 now rank as your favourite ever Newcastle United season?

No, strangely enough. I enjoyed the Hughton promotion season more and I loved the 21/22 season post-takeover. That turned out unexpectedly well and showed us what was coming. This past season was more-or-less what I anticipated

Which are your three favourite previous NUFC seasons (before 2024/25) and why?

The two I mentioned above were favourites. The promotion season happened almost in defiance of Mike Ashley and a lot of players who could have left when we were relegated (Gutierrez, Enrique, Nolan, Barton..) stayed round to repair the damage.

There were a few seasons under Keegan, Robson and Rafa that I quite enjoyed too and of course my memories stretch back to the 1960s. Some seasons were good, some were indifferent, and many were bad. But I still keep going. I tend to remember games fondly, rather than whole seasons.

Talk us through how it was for you, on the last day of the 2024/25 season (Your emotions, how it all played out, where you were watching it (at SJP or wherever), who you shared it with?

I was at St James’ Park. My socks and shoes were soaked in beer, thanks to a drinking companion, who failed to spot a large table in a bar full of large tables. To be honest, I wouldn’t have been angry if we’d only qualified for the Europa League, although I felt CL football would increase our chances of holding on to the crown jewels.

I didn’t think we played as badly as some made out against Everton and my main thoughts were that our lads needed a rest, and our squad needed boosting.

My phone never gets any reception in and around SJP, but there were plenty of people around me reporting on Aston Villa’s act of self-destruction. So by the time our CL qualification was confirmed, I was already quite relaxed. It was a good day.

In order, which eight players have been most influential across the 2024/25 season?

(Not sure they are in order)

Isak

Tonali

Burn

Bruno

Tino

Joelinton

Hall

Have you at any point during his time at Newcastle United, thought that Eddie Howe’s position should be under question?

No, and I don’t understand why anyone would. He’s bought well, coached well, and improved many of the players he inherited. I can’t see that anyone could have done any better. Sure we’ve lost games we ‘should’ have won, but we’ve had far more impressive wins, and he’s delivered a trophy and two Champions League adventures in three full seasons. He ‘gets’ Newcastle, he speaks well, the players like him, and his team play some good stuff. He’ll do for me.

Your favourite three moments in NUFC Premier League matches this past season?

Too many to choose from.

Off the top of my head, I’ll say Isak’s goal against Liverpool, Schär’s equaliser in the same game, and Murphy’s wonderstrike against Palace.

What are your thoughts on Newcastle United Sporting Director Paul Mitchell leaving?

The timing is terrible but I never liked the look of him. He reminded me of some dreadful 80s yuppie, or a ghastly ‘disruptor’ who wanted to throw his weight around and be the king of St James’ Park.

His first act was to criticise what Eddie, Amanda et al had done since the takeover. Then he made a complete fool of himself chasing Mark Guéhi all summer long, as well as by all accounts said we’d paid too much for Tino and Lewis Hall. They could have paid me half what they paid him and I guarantee I would have been just as ineffective.

Sunderland are now back in the same division as NUFC, your thoughts?

I couldn’t care less.

I just feel we’ve moved so far ahead of them that they are just another team that got promoted and will probably be relegated by April 2026. If we play anywhere near our potential next season, it’s six points to Eddie’s Mags.

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

Getting to the knockout rounds of the CL, qualifying again, a couple of decent cup runs, retaining our best players and improving the squad.

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

I don’t really know. I just want to feel we’re moving forward.

I guess the minimum I want to see is a demonstrably stronger squad. Realistically, we pick our first XI from a pool of 14 players, then there are two or three others that can be relied upon to do a good job when called upon. That is nowhere near enough to cope with the Premier League + Champions League, let alone the domestic cups. That 14 needs to be more like 18 to even think about coping.

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

Man City

Liverpool

Arsenal

Chelsea

Newcastle

Villa

mackems

Burnley

Man Utd

Name a Newcastle player who you think could be a massive surprise success this coming season, doing far better than most fans expect.

William Osula. The lad has something…

Who do you see as the six most important current Newcastle players (in order) for next (2025/26) season?

No surprises. Tonali, Isak, Sven, Bruno, Joe, AG

With NUFC now having won a trophy…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 League Cup in one of the three?

Always top four for me.

What do you think was the key moment in the 2024/25 season, the turning point maybe, which then set us eventually on track to success?

The 2-0 away at Arsenal in the League Cup and the same again at home. It showed everyone we belong at the top level.

If Newcastle United had ended up outside the Champions League places on the final day, would this last season have had a bit of failure attached to it?

Maybe for a brief moment, given that we were in third place a couple of weeks earlier. But overall, no.

Which players do you think would be ideal (and realistic) signings this summer (don’t feel limited to only players who have been linked to Newcastle United in the media)?

I have no idea. Bruno, Isak and Tonali came out of the blue, and in Sandro’s case, the club pretended they were after someone else. More of the same, and I’ll be happy.

Any Newcastle players you would be ok with leaving, that might surprise other NUFC fans (Including anywhere you think the money received for them and the extra PSR flexibility it would give, could then lead to an overall better team/squad)

Hmm. Not really.

We’re not at the same stage as a Man City or Liverpool, where they have 20 legitimate first team players, and can therefore play that game.

There have been times in the last 12 months where I’ve felt that selling AG and Bruno might be something we could use to our benefit, but the risk attached to that sort of equation is just too high for me.