If you were to summarise the mixed feelings towards the impending 26/27 Premier League season into one song, I think it would be ‘Hello, Goodbye’ by The Beatles.
Hello to the new season! Goodbye to Eddie Howe. Hello to Matthias Jaissle! Goodbye to Gordon, Tonali, Bruno and Trippier. Hello to six new players all aged 24 and under! Goodbye to Kevin Keegan.
When the fixtures were released back in June, I honestly groaned at the idea of playing Liverpool on opening day. On one hand, what a way to throw us into the deep end of the first day of the season. On the other hand, at least this gets that fixture out of the way.
But then, while writing this preview, I thought this could actually be the perfect time to play these opponents. In the last few years, the Premier League has a tendency to schedule this fixture in August (none of which we’ve won), but this year, things could turn around.
Think back to August last year. I wrote the preview for that fixture too, where I said that the Reds were projected to win the league once again after strengthening their already brilliant squad.
Flash forward to today, and their club legend spat his dummy out in the mixed zone, their manager who won them the league was sacked, and one of their particular star signings got slapped so hard with karmic retribution that he scored a grand total of four goals.
After all the back-and-forth debates about the ‘food chain’ and what not, both teams endured nightmarish periods last year and are hoping that this will be the season to return to winning ways.
Their transfer window has been quieter than last year’s, but they’ve still managed to spend just under £100 million on two players. They’ve brought in defender Jérémy Jacquet from Rennes for £55m (a deal that was agreed in February) and signed left-winger Victor Muñoz for £34m, once again continuing the trend of pinching our targets.
Their most important new addition is head coach Andoni Iraola. The Basque led Bournemouth to their highest league finish and first ever European football qualification… then announced he would leave them at the end of the season? Maybe, it was one of those instances of wanting to leave on a high, but instead, I think he left them in the lurch.
He was brought in by the powers that be at Liverpool to inject some energy into a team that couldn’t find their rhythm last season. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
Iraola is already under the microscope for taking on this job, getting scrutinised for his comments almost immediately. He, probably more than anyone on the field, will be hoping to prove his worth on Sunday.
Onto our lot. One thing that I am looking forward to about this new season is the complete lack of expectations. I don’t know this new manager. I don’t know these new players. Everyone is predicting for us to get mid-table or worse.
I’m turning what could be a scary prospect into an exciting one. I sort of knew Eddie Howe. I sort of knew Trippier and Gordon. I had no clue about the rest of them before they came, and look at them all now!
You can think we’re a small club who need to sell all of their players – something we’ve constantly had to do throughout our history – but instead, I see as an institution that turns unknowns into superstars.
With a fresh crop of new faces, how can you not get excited? It could go horribly wrong, but it could go very right. And we’ll be back here in three years writing about how Man City want £100m for Sean Steur who has refused to train (or maybe he just went to Darsley Park instead of Woolsington Hall).
I believe that we won’t field a team too dissimilar to the ones seen in pre-season. Horníček will be in goal, and we’ll see new captain Dan Burn in the backline with Thiaw, Hall and new signing Dedić. The midfield will be Ramsey, Steur and Elanga, with Wissa, Barnes and Osula up front. Let’s see if that works, shall we?
The last time we had no expectations, we came fourth. I doubt we’ll have anything like that again, but it’s good to dream.
Down your pint, wave your flag for Kevin Keegan and remember that the game is always the worst part of the day. 2-0 to us. Why not? This is the only weekend you can have blind optimism.
On a final note, thank you for reading! This is my last preview for True Faith. Like most of our squad, I will be leaving Newcastle this season. Like most of Downing Street, I’m moving to Manchester for my new job at BBC Sport. It’s been three and a half brilliant years writing these articles and I hope I can pop back every once in a while. I will say that if you or your family members are interested in football writing, then this is the place to do it. Who knows what you might get out of it? It certainly worked for me...
Grace Laidler
@gracewillhuntin on X
@graceabouttown on Instagram
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