Newcastle United ready for another exciting season - and we'll be there every step of the way

Lee Ryder
·6-min read

Hi, Lee Ryder here, Chronicle Live's chief Newcastle United writer and I'm ready for one of the most eagerly anticipated campaigns at St James' Park in years.

I'm hoping you can join me and 260,000 other followers of my coverage up and down the country in the Premier League from Bournemouth to Ipswich and possible magical mystery tours in the two domestic cups to boot!

The big difference between Chronicle Live's coverage to many others is that the writing and reporting comes straight from the heart and with one of the biggest contact books in the game you can expect breaking news and stories and rumours quickly stood up or knocked down on a competitive patch.

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You can see a video report on the final whistle on Chronicle's X and Facebook feeds and if the Magpies have done well they will get praise to the rooftops, if they have had a stinker, we won't hesitate to give you an accurate rundown of that but we'll always look for positives too.

You can also download the Everything is Black and White podcast daily and my special edition after the action is over on a match day. Being a local lad born in North Shields along the banks of the Tyne, I know how long it can feel for a new season to come around in these parts and this summer has been no different from that long countdown from the fixtures coming out in June to pre-season and now on to the first clash of the Premier League season against Southampton.

Last season was a bitter-sweet experience with the 2023/24 campaign seeing the return of Champions League football and that dream night against Paris St-Germain when the French giants were beaten 4-1. Trips to Milan, Dortmund and of course Paris were also part of a unique experience as fans tasted continental football for the first time in a decade.

Last season was a story of injury hell too for Eddie Howe's team with the likes of Kieran Trippier, Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson, Dan Burn and Nick Pope just a handful of players to end up in the treatment room for long painful periods.

The lowdown on last term was that Newcastle simply could not cope with playing in four competitions as those injuries caught up with them and they bowed out of the two domestic cups at the quarter-final stages while the Champions League dream ended in cruel fashion after finishing bottom of the group of death having slid from top to bottom across the autumn period with a narrow defeat against AC Milan sealing their fate.

Newcastle rallied in the Premier League and after slumping to 10th place in March they clawed themselves to seventh for what many thought would be enough to get into Europe. Only for a surprise win for Manchester United in the FA Cup final over noisy neighbours Manchester City to deliver another knockout blow and mean Eddie Howe's team finished the campaign completely empty-handed.

A summer reset at Newcastle has taken place with Howe retaining his role as head coach but finding himself joined by sporting director Paul Mitchell and, most interestingly, performance director James Bunce. The former Monaco duo did not arrive quietly with Howe instantly flagging up "boundaries" around his first-team set-up and underlining his need to feel happy in his work as England speculation dominated the summer.

The internal politics appear to have settled down but whether Howe has been fully satisfied with transfer activity is up for debate. Goalkeepers John Ruddy and Odysseas Vlachodimos joined early in the summer along with AFC Bournemouth defender Lloyd Kelly while £28million was finally coughed up for Lewis Hall to Chelsea.

Since then William Osula has joined the club from Sheffield United for £10m in a deal that could eventually rise to £15m. Losing Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest was a big blow for Newcastle in my opinion and underlined a bit of bad organisation from within at St James' Park.

We never got to see Yankuba Minteh kick a ball for Newcastle after a successful loan stint with Feyenoord last season, and in a summer in which Newcastle have been crying out for a new winger, his exit to Brighton for PSR reasons seemed baffling. The Magpies knew the PSR deadline was approaching in June so why did they leave it so late? That debate is for another day but Newcastle have had to cut their cloth accordingly this summer.

Howe does not start the season under pressure per se but failure to get off to a flying start will wake up some of his doubters and in truth, there were a few last season at times. For me, Howe deserves the chance to have a fair crack of the whip and most supporters seem willing to give him exactly that.

I'm not sure the top four will start the season quaking in their boots at Newcastle's line-up. However, I do believe a season with no European football can work in Eddie's favour as he gets full weeks on the training ground with his squad.

The key factor for Howe will be keeping the squad fit and if Bunce is as good as CV suggests that should not be a problem should it? Retaining the services of Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon will also be key for Howe.

If he can then a European challenge should be the very least we should expect from Newcastle this term. After all, Howe has now had over £400m to spend on players and understandably has been the envy of some of the managers in the St James' Park dugout who came before him.

Howe has demonstrated he can deliver the type of football that gets fans on their feet on Tyneside. Like Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson, he has proved he knows what the supporters want to see after a long week at work.

This season the big challenge will be keeping pace with the top four but at least grabbing a Europa League or Europa Conference League place. A cup run wouldn't be bad either and as any Newcastle fan will tell you, even if Howe won the Carabao Cup many fans would die happy!

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