WHAT should Newcastle United be aiming to achieve this season? On the face of it, it seems a fairly frivolous question. All sorts of pre-season predictions get bandied around at this time of year, and they tend to matter little once the action begins.

When it comes to Newcastle’s first full season under the control of their new Saudi Arabia-backed ownership group, though, the issue of expectation levels is a pressing concern. Whether Eddie Howe likes it or not, the narrative of the forthcoming season will look very different depending on what you think the Magpies should be capable of achieving at the outset. Managing that over the course of the next ten months could be a challenge.

At the end of last season, I was part of a small group of local journalists who sat down with Howe on the patio overlooking the pitches at Newcastle’s Darsley Park training complex. We chatted about the campaign that had just finished, and we tried – and, it must be said, failed – to elicit some nuggets of early-summer transfer information out of Newcastle’s head coach. Then, as the conversation reached an end, Howe turned to all of us and asked, ‘I’ve got one question for you now – what do you think would be a successful season next year?’

He subsequently admitted he wanted to get a sense of what would be expected of him come August because while like a lot of managers, he might claim not to read anything written in the papers or listen to anything being spouted on TV, he is all too aware of the ‘richest club in the world’ tag that has been hung around Newcastle’s neck. He will also not have missed one of his directors, Amanda Staveley, gleefully telling anyone who would listen in the immediate aftermath of last year’s takeover that, “We want to win the Premier League within five to ten years. This takeover is hugely transformative. We want to see trophies.”

Less than one year into that project, I don’t think any Newcastle fan seriously expects to be challenging for the Premier League crown next season. But how high should the bar be set? Personally, I answered Howe’s question by stating that a top-ten finish, potentially encompassing a realistic tilt at qualification for either the Europa League or the Conference League, allied to a genuine cup run that might result in a trip to Wembley would represent progress.

The Northern Echo:

My sense is that most Newcastle supporters would agree with that, but you don’t have to spend too long trawling through social media or some of the more sensationalist footballing websites to see that a head of steam is building that suggests the Magpies should be aiming much higher.

Top four? A pipe-dream surely. Not according to some, who appear convinced Moussa Diaby, Alexander Isak and Lucas Paqueta are all heading to Tyneside to spearhead an assault on the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United for a place in the Champions League.

In fairness, that’s probably at the extreme end of the scale, but even some more sensible judges are arguing that Newcastle should be gatecrashing the top six this season given they ended last campaign on an excellent run of form and have already added Nick Pope, Matt Targett and Sven Botman to a squad that performed so well under Howe from Christmas onwards.

Newcastle’s form in the second half of last season was excellent, but it should still be noted that their only victory against an established member of the top six came when they saw off a strangely below-par Arsenal in their final home game and that seven of their victories from the start of January onwards were by a one-goal margin. It is to their credit that they won those matches, but it would not have taken much for a number of them to have swung the other way.

Given they are likely to end this transfer window having invested another £100m or so, it is neither unrealistic nor unfair to expect Newcastle to take another significant step forward. Surely even Howe has to regard that measure of success as legitimate.

A ‘significant step’ forward can mean a number of different things though, and that is where a successful management of expectation will be key. Despite what a number of southern commentators appear to think, Newcastle fans are not idiots. Barring an extremely small minority, they will not be demanding the earth. They will, however, be calling for progress, and Howe has to accept that additional weight on his shoulders.

Finish in the top ten, challenge for a place in Europe, have a proper go at a cup competition. A couple of months on, and I still maintain that is an attainable ambition for the forthcoming campaign.


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THE success of the ongoing Women’s Euros has served to underline the folly of not staging any matches in the North-East.

The Northern Echo:

The region has long been a fertile breeding ground for the England team, and while Sunderland Ladies have faced considerable challenges in recent years – not least the ridiculous decision not to initially award them a place in either of the top two divisions of the club game – it says much that three of the players involved in Monday’s record-breaking win over Norway are products of the Lady Black Cats.

So, with three of the best grounds in the country located in the North-East, why on earth wasn’t the region awarded any group games? Bramall Lane, in Sheffield, and the New York Stadium, in Rotherham, are less than eight miles apart, yet they are staging three matches each. It is ridiculous that some of those games aren’t being played in the North-East instead.