I noticed some ‘interesting’ comments in The Mag’s comments section and elsewhere last night about Newcastle United and Sunderland.
It wasn’t a total surprise as I had seen something similar before.
However, I find it strange that some NUFC fans are so desperate to use Sunderland as a bizarre stick with which to beat Newcastle United.
The agenda for these United fans is in this direction.
Sunderland have been a complete success story this season and Newcastle United a complete failure.
The (final) trigger for this was the fact that Newcastle had lost at Liverpool and Sunderland won at home to Burnley last night, meaning the Mackems had moved above United.
The level of abuse meted out to Eddie Howe and Newcastle United by some of our own fans is unbelievable.
As foolish as the agenda is, they claim this is a season of utter failure for NUFC.
Even foolish when so many key factors are completely and conveniently ignored.
I have no problem recognizing that Sunderland have done quite well for themselves this season. He has won nine of his 24 Premier League matches and is now eighth in the Premier League.
However, it has been a very busy Premier League table this season and the reality is that there are only three points separating Brentford in seventh place and Bournemouth in 12th. Newcastle United are 11th, but a convincing home win against seventh-placed Brentford on Saturday could see United rise above the Bees. While any kind of win over Brentford would automatically see Newcastle back above Sunderland if the Mackems lose to league leaders Arsenal.
However, unlike some, I’m not obsessed with whether Newcastle United finish above Sunderland or not. I am fortunate that this has been the norm for most of the decades I have been following NUFC.
The main reason why I would be so concerned about finishing behind Sunderland this season is that this would in fact certainly mean that NUFC had achieved nothing because of their league placement. When I say I haven’t achieved anything, I don’t mean that I would see it as an achievement to finish above the Mackems. If I finished under Sunderland it would automatically mean that Newcastle did not finish in a Champions League qualifying spot, nor did they finish in the Europa League.
Those pesky other factors
If you’re going to have a conversation about Newcastle United and Sunderland this season, you simply can’t ignore a number of key factors.
Newcastle United obviously spent a lot of money in the summer, but they had to. Having been unable to bring in any new first-team contenders for two years due to PSR problems and having seen Minteh, Anderson, Dubravka, Isak, Wilson, Longstaff, Almiron and Kelly all leave, the Newcastle United squad were desperately short of numbers and quality in certain areas. I don’t need to remind you that the summer period of 2025 was anything but smooth; only one of the six eventual summer signings was signed in time to have any form of pre-season with their new teammates. While the two essential strikers only arrived in September and one of them was immediately injured and could not play until December.
Sunderland came to the Premier League but they were no paupers; their much-maligned owner funded the summer spending of more than £160 million, by far the most any promoted side has ever spent. It was a net spend far greater than that of Newcastle United and while it wasn’t a huge amount of money in modern Premier League teams, the expenditure of over £160 million certainly doesn’t fit the narrative that this has been a cash-strapped Sunderland team that has performed unimaginable miracles.
A BBC Sport report two weeks ago highlighted how the 20 Premier League clubs had been hit by injuries. Newcastle United were at the very top when it came to days lost due to injuries to first-team players, while Sunderland had the second fewest number of days lost due to injury. Newcastle United had lost almost three times as many days as Sunderland due to injuries. Things have hardly improved massively in the past fortnight as Eddie Howe was unable to call on Bruno, Joelinton, Miley, Botman, Krafth, Schar and Livramento when choosing his starting XI on Saturday at Anfield. If you don’t have at least some sympathy for the injury issues Eddie Howe is dealing with this season, especially with such a busy schedule, then I’m at a loss for words.
Speaking of which…
I mentioned the busy schedule and combined with the injury situation this season it has made things so tough for Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United side.
It’s not impossible to win matches on a regular basis, BUT only a fool would deny that it makes it that much harder.
As things stand, Newcastle United have played 37 games so far this season, with 24 in the Premier League, 8 in the Champions League, 4 in the Carabao Cup and 1 in the FA Cup.
By comparison, Sunderland were humiliated at home when they lost to third-tier Huddersfield when knocked out of the Carabao Cup in August. Their only other match (on top of the PL) is their FA Cup third round match, a total of 26.
Newcastle United have played eleven more so far, 37 to 26, and have had to play both during the week and at the weekend. Denying this makes things so much more difficult, especially when there are so many injuries, is beyond ridiculous.
Once we close play on February 24, 2026, Newcastle will have played 44 games this season, compared to 30 for Sunderland. Only one match free, with exactly 50% more matches played than the Mackems.
None of this means that Eddie Howe gets a free pass and United can lose all their games without any criticism.
However, that has not been the case by a long shot.
Newcastle United are in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, a play-off away from the last 16 of the Champions League, are still playing in the FA Cup and are one of a host of very close clubs outside the Premier League’s top flight.
If you really think this is an abject failure and you don’t accept how big the challenge has been with the injuries and the sheer volume of games (and the crippling nature of the summer transfer window), then there really is no hope for you.
This season has not been an unmitigated success, but it is far from the disaster that some Newcastle United fans are desperate to ‘prove’.
#Bizarre #Sunderland #stick #defeated #Newcastle #United