United crash and burn again and the mood is turning toxic. Cast your minds back to the time shortly after the takeover in 2021 following Howe’s appointment. The club was under pressure in a fight against relegation and objectively we were on the slide. Amongst supporters however there was belief and morale was sky high. The whole club knew the short, medium and long term objectives- stay up, stabilise and then push on towards our goal of becoming an elite club. It was that simple and that clear. At the end of the first full season post takeover we reflected on not only staying up but achieving that with something to spare, reaching our first cup final since 1999 and qualifying for the Champions League in the preceding season and a half. The flags flew and it seemed nothing could stop this bright young manager in Eddie Howe, the effervescent director Amanda Staveley and an improving pool of players attracted to the club by ambitious talk of more improvement in the playing staff, new training facilities and even an expanded or new stadium. A new CEO (Darren Eales) and a new DoF (Dan Ashworth) had been appointed. Despite the manoeuvres of the PL introducing new rules designed specifically to restrict us, optimism was barely dented. But those rules had changed everything. Then reality hit. Ashworth decided Man Utd’s grass was greener (it wasn’t) and left for the north west. The summer of 2024 saw a shuddering stop with a PSR roadblock seeing Eliot Anderson going to Forest and Yannkub Minteh off to Brighton to balance the books. Very quickly that looked disastrous. New Sporting Director, Paul Mitchell arrived like a bull in a china shop, declaring the United recruitment strategy unsustainable (he was right) with Staveley held accountable for the PSR farrago and sacked. She was sacked however you dress it up. Summer 2024 ended in a futile pursuit of Marc Guehi and Steve Parrish toying with us. The window ended with no signings bar a goalie Howe didn’t want. With fewer games - no Europe in particular- Howe rallied his troops and in 2025 we celebrated winning the League Cup and qualifying again for the Champions League. Howe was lauded as a genius, the best English coach of his generation. The club briefed journalists the interest in Isak would not mean we’d sell him. Mitchell told Isak and his agent he would not receive a pay increase despite what he’d been promised by anyone previously. Isak and his agent were asked to look at the contract with three years remaining. True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineTF Match Report - United throw it away again with listless display Today was one of those days I asked myself on a repeated basis from around 14:10 onwards why I bother to rinse the best part of two tonne on something that brings me such misery. There’s no dressing this drivel up in excuses like ‘it was a bad summer’ or ‘we’re playing too many games’ or ‘Eddie has been shafted by shit signings’ or tiredness or injuries…Read more15 hours ago · 25 likes · 19 comments · Michael MartinWe all know what happened next. CEO Darren Eales had continued in post for almost twelve months with a cancer diagnosis while the club made no replacement appointment. The season ended with Howe begging for pace and purpose in the transfer market. In response Paul Mitchell resigned for what looked entirely spurious reasons at the time and look worse now. No CEO and no DoF. Replacements would come for both roles with the summer window 2025 closed. United headed into the window with an insistence Isak wouldn’t be sold from the top brass in Riyadh. Our targets were a goalie, right sided centre half, right sided attacker and a striker replacement for Callum Wilson who left us that summer. With Mitchell away United hastily assembled a transfer committee made from Steve Nickson, Andy Howe, Eddie Howe and Jamie Reuben. There followed a series of rejections from key targets which reminded me of my (cough) success in tapping up lasses in Madison’s nightclub c.1984. You know who we signed - Thiaw has been a qualified success. Ramsdale on loan from Southampton has been unconvincing and will likely return to the south coast at the end of his loan. Wissa and Woltermade have been disastrously expensive failures. Much the same can be said for Elanga and Ramsey too. True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineTF Player Ratings - Crystal Palace 2-1 Newcastle UtdAaron Ramsdale - 7…Read more17 hours ago · 19 likes · 10 comments · True FaithPerhaps unremarked ‘good lads’, Paul Dummet, Matt Ritchie, Miggy Almiron, Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles and Sean Longstaff have departed and you can speculate if there’s a different vibe in the United changing room now. I’m not sure after such a painful defeat at Palace as we’ve just had any of those players above would be as keen to swop shirts with the lad who’d just scored twice with congratulatory hugs as Wissa did after expending himself for all of 60 seconds or some such. With no Guimares available nor Trippier and Lascelles at Leicester, Jacob Murphy wore the captain’s armband at Selhurst Park. I didn’t have that on my takeover bingo card on 7/Oct/21 to be honest. Amanda Staveley warned us we couldn’t afford to make one bad big money signing such were the pressures of PSR. Last summer we made four signings who’ve contributed very little this season and who will be impossible to get our money back on. It has been alleged, Isak’s form post cup win wasn’t as a result of an injury as many thought but part of his attempts to leave United. His refusal to train with his teammates last summer would tend to support the allegations of the swede being a non trier in last season’s run in. We can only speculate how Isak’s conduct has poisoned the dressing room and set a template for any player disaffected by the fix the whole club finds itself in entangled by PSR. Want to leave United? Just stop trying and the club will eventually cave apparently. Again I’ll ask you to cast your minds back to the takeover period - nothing has moved on the training ground or stadium. There’s nothing moving on any multi club model and the club’s hierarchy are not of a mind to challenge any of the rules that make it virtually impossible to challenge. Commercial income has increased significantly but from an Ashley low they should never have been at and we remain miles away from having the financial strength to challenge the cartel. Our ‘new’ CEO David Hopkinson claims we aim to be challenging for all of the top honours by 2030. But this season has shown we aren’t even the best team in the NE despite the misplaced confidence of Antony Gordon. Neither Yasir Al Rumayyan our club Chairman or director Jamie Reuben much bother attending games. Absent landlords? Hopkinson’s most recent media interview has hinted at a significant shift in strategy this summer if as is likely there’s no European football. That suggests we are going to become much like Brighton with a few bells and whistles attached. Our so called better players are already clocking off it seems and keeping themselves for the World Cup and transfers to clubs with big wages and the ambitions they thought they were coming to Newcastle United for. True Faith - Independent NUFC FanzineReview - 1312 - Among The Ultras - James MontagueNo prizes for what 1312 denotes as your starter for ten. Ahem…Read more5 days ago · 6 likes · 1 comment · True FaithYet there are some amongst our support who believe much of the collective failure that has brought us to this point can be solved by dispensing with Eddie Howe. I just don’t think that’s rational. But it is how big football works. Directors don’t sack themselves do they? There is a systemic failure at United and it is all on PIF. They have put a lot of money in and that is undeniable. But at a strategic level they have done little over an extended period to support the man in the dugout who was being lauded only twelve months ago and rightfully so. I don’t doubt those who might be considered as his replacement haven’t clocked this as well. PSR handcuffs, big decisions unmade, semi detached leadership and a low priority? Who is rushing to take Eddie’s place in the dugout. None of this serves to excuse some of the mistakes made recently or which may not be Howe’s limitations. But there are certain players who are seriously letting their manager down - personally and professionally. But I’d ask you to question where the club is going right now? Where it wants to go and how it’s going to get there? I haven’t got a clue. Nothing is backed up with actions. Everything has changed since those days of early October 2021. Keep On, Keepin’ On … Michael Martin @TFMick1892.bsky.social