"It's the hope that kills you.."

There is a silent moment every football fan has the night before a new season, from League of Ireland to the Premier League to almost every division on the planet, wherein each and every fan mutters the same thing quietly under their breath…”is this our year?”

For 95% clubs it won’t be, but never underestimate the hope and optimism of a football supporter. Everyone wishes their club could go on a Leicester-style 5000/1 run all the way to the league title like they did in 2016 and hey, its football, you just never know. The summer before a new season is always a whirlwind, you are constantly reading Sky Sports News, the nonsense in the Daily Mail and refreshing Fabrizio Romano’s twitter, praying for a “Here We Go” related to Newcastle and still hoping for that marquee transfer success story. WhatsApp Groups are in full swing with friends of rival clubs sledging one another about how much they paid for this and that player, while you’re secretly hoping to stay under the radar and avoid your turn in the hot seat..

So…. why are we here? Why am I reading this you may ask? To pose but one question: what is real success for Newcastle this season. Let’s take away the fairytale of a league title or beating Sunderland in the Cup Final in Wembley. If I gave you a magic wand, what would success look like? Let’s walk through the options together.

League Champions

If you’re not in, you can’t win, but I think 99% of Newcastle fans will admit we’re not there yet. In the next 3-5 years you would hope a challenge could be put down, but for the moment it’s wildly unrealistic given our squad depth and PSR limitations. 

Top 4/Champions League

There are moments in life where people are asked where you were when this or that happened. Ireland beating the All Blacks for the first time in 2016, Katie Taylor winning boxing gold at the 2012 Olympics, Robbie Keane’s goal against Germany in 2002. For every Geordie, where were you on October 4th 2023, when the Toon smashed PSG under the shining lights of St. James’ Park? What would you give to witness local boy Dan Burn do that again? This is the hope of every fan and in this writer’s opinion one of the strongest possibilities out there. Why? We have no European football, we have no mid-week games, no backlog we’ll need to complete at the end of year with half a squad running on fumes, vibes and bandages. Like the majority of fans, I thought Man City would beat Man United in the FA Cup Final in May, but as we discussed above, this is football. If we can sign 2 or 3 more players, this is a very strong possibility for us. 

European Qualification

A possibility comfortably within our grasp if we keep our minds to it. The Europa League would be the obvious aim outside of the Champions League, but do not rule out UEFA Conference League football such is the fierce competition and improvement in this window from teams around us. We have seen well established European sides take this competition very seriously from Roma to Olympiakos, sides who granted are not in the same league as the Madrids and Bayerns of this world, but nonetheless have a history and pedigree when it comes to European success.

We all saw that Jarrod Bowen goal in the 2023 Conference League final and what it meant to their fans, why could that not be us? Why not Bruno, Gordon or Isak winning us a major European trophy? Imagine if our 1st major title in all those years of hardship was a European one - West Ham did it just two seasons ago, Liverpool nearly conquered the Europa League last year in Dublin. The run we had in the Champions League built many memories for years to come, but let’s not underestimate what a year or two in Europa/Conference League competitions could do for us in terms of reaching and winning finals and more importantly the positive commercial impact that follows.

A Cup, does it matter which one?

1955, the dreaded number we see every year (the last time we won a major trophy if you don’t include the 2006 Intertoto Cup..). Beating Man City that day in Wembley, watched by a crowd of approx. 100,000, would Jackie Milburn have really thought it would be his last trophy in a Newcastle jersey having won two previously in the seasons prior, let alone the club’s last for over 50 years?

A trophy is required, maybe not this season, but within the next two; it does not matter what it is, League or FA Cup, we need to get the monkey off our back to drive on the club and give those loyal supporters something to shout about. We have heard the term “journey” being used and every Geordie understands, but we’re football fans, we are impatient, we want it all. There is no European football this season, a good cup run should be a bare minimum. We are also due some fortune in our cup draws considering we had the hardest run of all time between Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup draws last season. 

The Hope?

Lifting the League Cup in February and Europa League football for next season. There are stronger squads out there as we are restrained by PSR, which we’ll get into in next week’s blog; on paper we have one of the strongest XIs in the league, but injuries have been the curse of us for a long time. Get the monkey off our back with a cup, secure European football for next season. This will allow us to take in further revenue which can be reinvested into the squad accordingly. 

It’s nice to speak about the above as realistic, and pre the takeover I used to sit down with the season’s fixtures trying to guess where we would get our minimum 36 points to ensure safety, praying for a draw against Cardiff or Swansea away to get over the threshold. Now we’re talking about Europe, Cup wins and MAYBE a league title challenge someday…one can only dream right?

To all fans, try to enjoy a stress-free night before the opening game because once that first can is cranked/first Greggs is digested on the morning of the game, it once again becomes a reality and we are back to square one again asking the same question…what is success for Newcastle United this season?

Thanks for taking the time to read this piece, hope you found it food for thought!

Canice Walsh has been a Newcastle fan for the past 20 years and is one of our esteemed Cork-based Irish Mags. If you are interested in joining the Irish Mags as a Guest Writer, drop us a message on our socials or email info@theirishmags.com.