Nobody is perfect, not even my missus, but His Royal Howeness is truly wonderful | 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 Simon Ritter:

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’m going for a Brentford star but not the usual suspect. Ever since Mikkel Damsgaard starred at Euro 2020 (in 2021) I’ve been expecting him to strut his stuff in the Premier League. His slight build seemed to hold him back. No longer. He topped a poll of Brentford supporters asked to name their player of the season, gaining 45% to Mbeumo’s 28%. That’s good enough for me, as one who believes a club’s fans are best qualified to judge and compare the players they see every week. He was fourth for assists, behind Salah, Smurf and Elanga. He would give us something different in midfield with his ability to unlock massed defences and at barely 25 should still be improving.

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

Fandabidozi. Fortunate. Fulfilled.

Three words to describe Newcastle United now?

The wide-awake giant.

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

It has to be, because of what was achieved by the team, the management and everyone behind the scenes. We played some sparkling football, scored some incredible goals (Isak, Tonali, Murphy, Gordon, Barnes and, of course, the Big Man from Blyth), thumped Arsenal three times, which should have been four, outplayed and outfought Liverpool at Wembley. The high points were far more frequent than the setbacks. Only the greediest Mr Greedy could ask for anything more.

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

I was nearly 10 when we won the Fairs Cup in the summer of 69 and not quite old enough to appreciate that magnificent triumph, though I do remember the semi-final tie at Ibrox (Iam McFaul’s penalty save) and the rioting Rangers fans at St James’ Park.

Can’t really count that one because I had yet to discover the thrill of it all.

In third place: The 1973-74 season, which included a Christmas match at St James’ Park against an unbeaten Leeds United still smarting from their humiliation at Wembley seven months earlier. I doubt the Leazes End had ever been more packed. Our run to the 1974 FA Cup final, especially the semi-final victory against Burnley, was brilliant. Almost as good as the “welcome home” reception after United were trounced by Shankly’s Liverpool. As the players asked rhetorically when they were greeted like conquering heroes: “What will happen if we ever win at Wembley.” Well, now they know.

In second: The 1975-76 season, my last at school, had a big impact. Gordon Lee was a deeply unpopular manager but I thought we played some decent possession-based stuff and reached the League Cup final. I witnessed at first hand memorable moments such as Supermac’s thunderbolt against Leicester, which got the campaign off to a breathtaking start. The epic FA Cup battles against a Bolton Wanderers team that included Barry “Save All” Siddall and Sam “Smellydice” Allardyce were something we will never see again, thanks to the dumbing down of domestic competitions. With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps a midweek neutral replay at Elland Road, an open goal the Leeds hoolies couldn’t resist, was not the FA’s brightest decision.

In first: The 2023-24 season, with our return to the Champions League, the ambush of PSG at the Castle on the Hill, 42 [CORRECT] hours in Dortmund, the Men against Boys match on Wearyside.

Most of all, the way our players kept battling against a farcical injury list and other blows that would have demoralised teams with less spirit. The old cliche that says “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” has been proved yet again by the events of this season.

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?

Not great, until the dust settled. Ever since March 16 I had been confident we would secure a Champions League berth but, as the crunch game against Everton approached, the old gallant losers scenario became more powerful. To guarantee we wouldn’t lose, I stuck a few quid on Moyes’ Boys (very old boys, in some cases). Not even that usually failsafe tactic worked. The low point was Villa’s “goal.” When that was quickly disallowed, though not quickly enough for somebody in splendid isolation simultaneously listening to the radio, watching Final Score on the TV and Forest v Chelsea on the laptop, I had a feeling the fates were smiling on us. The second goal for my new heroes at Old Trafford was the icing on the cake, topped only by the cherry of Emery doing his nut on the touchline. I’ll never tire of watching his histrionics.

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

Isak, Tonali, Joelinton, Burn, Murphy, Bruno, Pope, Trippier.

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

Nay, nay and thrice nay. Nobody is perfect, not even my missus, but His Royal Howeness is truly wonderful.

Yes, the admirable loyalty he shows to the players can occasionally border on stubbornness and he is arguably a little slow to address on-field shortcomings. I would like to have seen more opportunities for Osula and fewer for Wilson since Christmas but what do I know? Eddie sees his players almost every day in training. I’m an armchair fan with no experience and little knowledge of elite football. Neither am I a workaholic, a diplomat, a perfectionist or a shining example of humanity, all qualities our chief coach has in his armoury. As I said before the season started in another Q&A, there are no circumstances imaginable that would make me want to call for his dismissal.

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

Schar’s fab equaliser against Liverpool; Tonali’s strike from a ridiculous angle and distance against Brentford (I do not buy his 70% cross, 30% shot description, just as I don’t believe the Burn header against Liverpool at Wembley was not rehearsed); Isak’s towering header from Gordon’s right-wing cross that even Arteta could not explain away with some idiotic excuse.

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

OK, head above the parapet. I’m pleased, for many reasons. Local derbies are traditionally a big thing in football, which is too keen to ignore tradition these days. We are a team far superior to that lot down the road and every opportunity to demonstrate this to the wider world is welcome. Six points from the two encounters will help to send them back to the lower leagues. If one of our own does the business, we will have a new Mackem Slayer to celebrate. I would only ask that PGMOL chooses a referee good enough to cope with the febrile atmosphere. Those Mags who don’t want to play them are at risk of being called “frit.” Which is clearly absurd.

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

Retaining every player we want to keep, while adding strength in depth. Keeping Eddie Howe happy. Banishing our winless run against Liverpool in the Premier League.

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

Reaching the last 16 of the Champions League, though I believe we have a decent chance of making the quarter-finals. A top four finish in the Premier League. A good run in the FA Cup.

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

Liverpool, Newcastle United, Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa. Sunderland, Burnley and West Ham.

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

Osula, if he is given a reasonable run of starts. Lewis Miley, with the same caveat.

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

Tonali, Isak, Gordon, Burn, Pope, Livramento.

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?

Before the season started I said Champions League every time. The League Cup win was tremendously important because it ended a 56 year famine and provided a joyous weekend out. But, because Uefa has made its biggest competition so lucrative, United must play in it season after season if we are to close the gap on our richest rivals.

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 home draw against Liverpool showed we could compete with the biggest and the best. That must have given the players a lot of confidence, which manifested itself in the League Cup final more than three months later. I know we lost at Brentford immediately after the 3-3 but we should have buried the Bees in the first half. Isak’s atypical profligacy and a couple of defensive howlers were the reasons we didn’t.

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?

We competed in only three competitions, winning one, being eliminated by a marginal offside from the second and finishing in the top five of the third. If that’s failure, give me more!

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

We need more players, not fewer. Guardiola’s claim that he was unhappy working with a big squad was probably the most disingenuous comment of a season packed with bonkers soundbites. Injuries, suspensions and temporary loss of form for whatever reason can jeopardise all the hard work unless there is suitable back-up. So no, I would not welcome any surprise departures.