Newcastle United realistically could finish this season without another win. Manchester City, Arsenal and Burnley all have something to play for, so it’s a real prospect that those clubs’ need for points to win trophies, qualify for the Champions League or simply survive the drop, push them on to beat United. If that was how the season ended, there would be no grumbles about the campaign - especially given where the club were at the end of 2021.
As it goes, Newcastle players do have more than most in their position to play for - their futures, and that will undoubtedly boost them in their conquest for what now could be a top 10 finish. With Arsenal the final home game of the season, the players will likely do as they have done at most home games recently - a lap of honour.
Time after time in 2022, fans have stayed behind waving flags and applauding players for their efforts - including a six-game winning streak at St James’ Park. The supporters know that to have fought off relegation after winning none of their opening 14 games is quite the achievement. They also have attention to the future. An ownership with plans and ambitions to do more than survive the drop every season.
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When the players are applauded from the pitch against Arsenal in a fortnight’s time, it’s not just gratitude for the last six months but also a sign of excitement for what is to come.
It’s a stark contrast to May 3, 2014, as Newcastle beat Cardiff City 3-0 at St James’ Park. That too was the final home game of the season but Newcastle came into it on the back of six straight defeats, having conceded 17 goals and scoring just once.
Pre-match there had be organised plans for fans to walk out on the 60th minute - which many did. The Chronicle had called on Alan Pardew to leave, and banners demanding Mike Ashley sell-up flown from the Leazes End.
It was chaos, and a volatile atmosphere, and not even a three-nil win could dampen the anger that had built up. Newcastle would finish 10th that season but fans knew they couldn’t look much further than that under Ashley.
And that was the main issue - there was no ambition at the club. Ashley was happy to see the club survive and anything else was a bonus. Finishing 10th in the Premier League would be for most clubs cause to sit down in the summer and work out how they can aim for the top six.
As it was, the club brought in Ayoze Perez, Jack Colback, Siem de Jong, Remy Cabella, Emmanuel Rivière, Daryl Janmaat, Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles. Looking back, only Perez, Darlow and Lascelles amounted to anything - but the club’s approach to spending average prices on European imports and refusing to buy experienced Premier League players - usually because of their age - very nearly cost them as the club needed a last-game-of-the-season-winner to stay up.
United fans weren’t surprised though. They had come to expect a summer of disappointment, where arrivals, if any, simply added bodies to a squad rather than quality. That Cardiff game was a sign of that frustration. A measure of anger for the form but more for the club’s glaring lack of ambition under Ashley.
On that very day, a banner was held aloft in the Leazes End and it read - ‘Congratulations, Newcastle United Balance Sheet Champions 2008-14.’ The fans were well aware of how far Ashley’s ambition stretched. That of course went on for seven further years until the new ownership took over.
The scenes outside of St James’ Park on October 7, 2021, were all those emotions seen that day against Cardiff, and in the away end at Wolves, the weekend before, racing to the surface.
Now Newcastle fans know there is hope ahead and the Saudi-backed consortium has bold plans to disrupt the top six. The owners are going to do things steadily - there won't be an open chequebook. Yet if in the next five years, all they've got to show for their efforts is a healthy balance sheet but an empty trophy cabinet, for many they won't have achieved what they'd aimed for.
It might take a few seasons but the importance of a plan and the desire to be the very best this club can be is the vital component. If Newcastle ended the 2021-22 season with three defeats and shipping a bagful of goals the fans could sleep easy at night knowing that such an end won’t be accepted or settled for by the owners or manager.
