Our reporter Ewan Wishart will be uniting Tyne Valley Toon supporters for the 25/26 season with his column, The Toon Crier.
Luckily, the lull of international football has come to an end, and Premier League football is back, with Newcastle facing a stern away test against Brighton and Hove Albion this Saturday (October 18).
Newcastle sit 11th and Brighton 12th, separated only by a goal difference of 1 to 0. After seven league games played, both teams have nine points, with two wins, two losses, and three draws each.
Brighton has regularly proven to be a bit of a bogey team for Newcastle, who have only won two of their 16 Premier League games against the Seagulls. You have to go all the way back to February 28, 2017, to find the last time Newcastle won at the Amex Stadium - a 2-1 Championship win - meaning they have never beaten Brighton away in the Premier League.
Could this be the occasion to break the curse? It's certainly about time. With Tuesday's (October 21) Champions League match against Benfica looming, I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie Howe rests some players for this one - that's why I'm going with a 1-1.
That leads us on to Newcastle's home match up with Jose Mourinho's Benfica. It's been a topsy-turvy start for 'The Special One,' who took the helm at Benfica on September 18 after being sacked by Fenerbahçe on August 29, two days after Bruno Lage's Benfica had beaten the Turkish side 1-0 in the final Champions League qualifying round.
So, within several weeks, Mourinho had failed to qualify for the Champions League, been relieved from his duties at Fenerbahçe, and then was appointed to the side that pipped him to qualify for Europe's premier competition; the football manager merry-go-round in full swing.
Mourinho has won two, lost one, and drawn two of his opening five games as Benfica manager. Still yet to settle on a system, the legendary Portuguese manager has deployed an attacking 4-3-3 system in each of his last two games under his helm, against Chelsea and Porto, respectively.
This is how I'd expect Benfica to line up against Newcastle. Under the helm of the typically pragmatic Mourinho, they will be desperate for a win after losing their opening two Champions League games.
I think this will be a tough test for Newcastle, but not one that is insurmountable. Although I do expect this to be a low-scoring game - with a Newcastle side that has only conceded seven goals in ten games in all competitions, facing off against a team managed by Sir Bobby Robson's former second-hand man, Mourinho - under the lights in the Champions League at St James' Park, with the crowd in full chorus, Newcastle should have enough to win. I think 1-0 is a realistic score line.
Newcastle's new sporting director
On Saturday (October 11), Newcastle's search for a new sporting director came to an end, after they triggered the release clause in Ross Wilson's contract, bringing the Scot in from Nottingham Forest. The 41-year-old was a direct replacement for Paul Mitchell, who departed Newcastle in June.
Despite his young age, Wilson comes with a wealth of experience. He has worked in a sporting director or similar role since 2012 at clubs like Southampton and Rangers. At the latter, he oversaw the Scottish giants winning the 2020/21 title, their first and only Scottish League Championship title for 15 years.
In just under two years at Forest, Wilson helped transform the Midlands club from a relegation candidate to a European football contender - with the club finishing seventh last season after the shrewd acquisitions of players like Anthony Elanga, Elliot Anderson, and Callum Hudson-Odoi - all while managing the fiery personality of Reds owner Evangelos Marinakis.
In five transfer windows, Wilson oversaw 43 (including eight loan signings) new first-team players joining Forest. That type of rebuild isn't necessary at Newcastle, where what is crucial to Wilson's longevity is that, unlike Mitchell, he forms a close relationship with Howe.
That means finding a balance between what they each want and what is right for the club. Howe is a manager who seems to favour quality over quantity. He wants to bring in the right players to the club, who not only have the right footballing attributes but also the right personalities. I believe Wilson's understanding of all of those factors will be key to his success.
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