It’s fair to say that the opening few months of the 2025/26 campaign have been quite mixed bag for Newcastle United.
Despite our progress in both the Carabao Cup and Champions League, all eyes are on the Premier League table, where we currently sit in 14th place with just 12 points from our opening 11 games.
Coupled with a torrid away record that has seen us lose to the likes of Brighton, West Ham and most recently Brentford, some serious questions have to be asked about what it will take for us to turn our domestic campaign around and fast.
One player who’s been sitting on the sidelines watching this unfold, and has seen his fair share of poor runs of form during his decade at the club, Jamaal Lascelles has now assured the fans that the players have heard them loud and clear, and that everyone must stay united behind the team if we want to navigate this rough patch.
Speaking after Sunday’s 3-1 loss at the GTech Community Stadium, former captain Lascelles bemoaned our recent run of results, but commented that the players’ hard work deserved more points and that the squad has continued to train and improve to try and turn things around.
> _“Very disappointing, obviously, any result is. I thought the boys, obviously, they gave their all. But again, it’s another defeat on the road. Now it’s just time for us to stick together even more and go again and work even harder.”_
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> _“I mean, that’s all you can do, team sport. But again, I thought it was pretty even today in terms of quality. The game could have gone either way, It was just fine margins that kind of cost us. But yeah, we just need to do better.”_
A lot of questions have been asked as to why we only seem to be able to perform at home, but Lascelles has rejected claims that our away struggles come from a mentality issue:
> _“No, it’s not for us (a mentality issue. Home or away, we approach every single game with the same attitude, same mentality._
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> _“Obviously, the results aren’t there. So I get why people might think it will be a thing. It’s just down to us players to make sure that it stops._
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> _“Us as players, we know at home the fans do give us an extra 5%. Away teams, when they come to St James’ Park, it’s their worst place to come because of the fans. So yeah, they do give us an extra boost. But we approach every game the same.”_
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> _“Our fans were loud tonight. Even though the numbers aren’t the same at St James’, they were singing the whole time. They applauded us after the game, like they always do. We just need to find the answer of just winning the game.”_
Our current winless run against Premier League sides away from St James’ Park stretches all the way back to the Carabao Cup final last season, where we of course beat Liverpool at Wembley.
There’s simply no easy away game in the Premier League anymore, with even the promoted trio of Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland proving to be big challenges for even those chasing the title this season.
So just when might we next go into an away Premier League game where getting all three points is a favourable possibility? Trips to the Hill Dickinson and Stadium of Light are coming up next, followed by two trips to Lancashire for Old Trafford and Turf Moor.
In each of those four games, particularly in the derby and away to Manchester United, you would hope we show a professional performance worthy of last season’s achievements, and see us finally end our poor recent record away from home.