Pod On The Tyne: an independent NUFC podcast

Newcastle United opened their account in 2026 with a Premier League win at home against Crystal Palace. Individual fortunes within the team were a mixed bag, Malick Thiaw and Lewis Miley were terrific again, Jacob Murphy struggled. The captain, Bruno Guimaraes, summed up the whole affair. It was an imperfect performance, but he scored the opener on another day when he refused to let the story end without three points for his team.

Newcastle won away... at Burnley... and made hard work of it. But, Yoane Wissa got another early goal on another debut, Joelinton put a Big Joe shift in, and we got the three points. Looking at the rest of 2025, it's difficult to imagine it being more of a mixed bag. Newcastle won a major domestic trophy for the first time in 70 years and celebrated like it. They also qualified for the Champions League again, and look set to qualify for the knockout stages. But, that away form stinks, and we had another nightmare summer. Is it too much to ask for some stability in 2026? Hopefully, Rik Mayall isn't the guy with the answer.

Well, that wasn't very Christmas-y, at all. Not only did Newcastle not build on the positive first-half performance at home against Chelsea, they reverted to their worst away-day selves. Failing to create enough chances against a heavily-depleted Manchester United team, shorn of their captain and several senior figures, we were also profligate with the few we had. It's difficult not to be feeling a bit Grinchy.

2025 has been a historic year for Newcastle United as they won their first domestic trophy in 70 years. Remarkably, part-way through the season, manager Eddie Howe was hospitalised with pneumonia. Talking about that incident, and the care he received from the NHS and Newcastle Hospitals, Howe agreed with the suggestion that nothing happens in a vacuum; the city, the people, and the football club are intrinsically linked. To further investigate those connections, George Caulkin spoke to Bruno Guimaraes and childrens' support project co-ordinator Melissa Scott at Newcastle's RVI. A group of first team players, including captain Bruno, paid a visit to the childrens' wards as part of the club's "A Helping Hand at Christmas" campaign. George also listened in as new CEO David Hopkinson addressed the audience at the "Memory Cafe", a club initiative supporting dementia sufferers and their families, and talked about the event with former player, BBC Radio commentator, and regular attendee John Anderson.

The early Saturday kick-off hasn't been kind to Newcastle in recent times, especially when it comes to fast starts. Different story against Chelsea today, as crowd and team were on it from the first minute. Just like old times, and at half-time the major concern was that we hadn't put the third, or even fourth, goal past Rob Sanchez. As energy levels dropped in the second half an improved Chelsea were able to level before a frantic last half-hour with Newcastle left ruing missed chances and at least one penalty decision at the Gallowgate End.