Perhaps it was meant to lift spirits after Newcastle's underwhelming start to the season. On Tuesday, the Magpies reminded their 2.8 million followers on X that it was 30 years to the day that Kevin Keegan's swashbuckling team crushed Manchester United 5-0 at St James' Park to sit top of the Premier League. It was a flashback to one of the all-time great Newcastle performances, with the social media post, external coming the same week their new German boss Matthias Jaissle is still trying to figure out why his class of 2026-2027 have yet to fire.
Last weekend's home loss to Aston Villa, which was greeted by a chorus of boos from the stands at the final whistle, means Newcastle head into Sunday's game against struggling Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park ( ) looking to end a run of three defeats in four games. That sequence includes back-to-back 4-1 away defeats at Leeds United on 14 September and Coventry City on 12 October. "The pressure will seriously be on if they don't get a result at Palace," Charlotte Robson from the True Faith Newcastle United podcast says.
Supporters have voiced concerns about the team's lack of identity under Jaissle, while questions remain about why, almost 14 months after leaving for Liverpool in a British record £125m deal, Newcastle have struggled to replace Alexander Isak. "One result can change a lot - all it needs is one good win and all of a sudden you're back on track - but Matthias Jaissle seems very set in his ways at this moment in time," former Newcastle defender John Anderson told BBC Sport. Chris Sutton, a Premier League winner with Blackburn in 1994-95 - who watched the defeat by Villa at St James' Park for BBC Radio 5 Live - says Newcastle appear "chaotic" under Jaissle.
"There is not enough in the final third in terms of creativity and they have a vulnerability at the back," adds Sutton. The season is still young but after five years of Eddie Howe, who landed the club's first major domestic trophy since 1955, will the alarm bells be ringing for Jaissle and Newcastle if they lose at Palace? Alan Shearer predicted it three months ago.
"Speaking purely as a fan, I think we have to get ready for a tough season and some very challenging times ahead," the Newcastle legend told BBC Sport after the long-serving Howe stepped down at the end of July. Newcastle had already sold England forward Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in a deal worth more than £69m and midfielder Sandro Tonali to Tottenham in a deal worth up to £100m. One week after Shearer's words, Bruno Guimaraes joined Arsenal for £75m.
"You cannot keep on selling your best players and then hope to be in contention at the top of the table," added Newcastle's all-time leading goalscorer. Seven games into the Premier League season, Shearer's gloomy prediction is so far proving correct, with Newcastle on eight points after winning just two top-flight games, away at Tottenham and at home to newly promoted Hull City. It has been a muddled start with suggestions Newcastle have lacked leadership and experience, with England defender Kieran Trippier, 36, also departing this summer.
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