It's the morning after the night before; a remarkable finish in Newcastle's 4-3 Premier League win over Leeds United. We have a go at analysing some of the action, but it's a bit like trying to organise jelly; jelly that's on fire.
As many thousands have already pointed out, there could have been no more fitting tribute to the great Kevin Keegan. It was lovely to see such warmth for the great man on such a cold night, and there was a show of support for Joe Willock as well.
What next, then? On the up in the league, but struggling for centre halves. Is the club likely to do any business in the January transfer window, and who will line up against Bournemouth in the cup?

Newcastle United opened their account in 2026 with a Premier League win at home against Crystal Palace.

Individual fortunes within the team were a mixed bag, Malick Thiaw and Lewis Miley were terrific again, Jacob Murphy struggled.

The captain, Bruno Guimaraes, summed up the whole affair. It was an imperfect performance, but he scored the opener on another day when he refused to let the story end without three points for his team.

Newcastle won away... at Burnley... and made hard work of it. But, Yoane Wissa got another early goal on another debut, Joelinton put a Big Joe shift in, and we got the three points.

Looking at the rest of 2025, it's difficult to imagine it being more of a mixed bag. Newcastle won a major domestic trophy for the first time in 70 years and celebrated like it. They also qualified for the Champions League again, and look set to qualify for the knockout stages.

But, that away form stinks, and we had another nightmare summer. Is it too much to ask for some stability in 2026? Hopefully, Rik Mayall isn't the guy with the answer.

Well, that wasn't very Christmas-y, at all. Not only did Newcastle not build on the positive first-half performance at home against Chelsea, they reverted to their worst away-day selves.

Failing to create enough chances against a heavily-depleted Manchester United team, shorn of their captain and several senior figures, we were also profligate with the few we had. It's difficult not to be feeling a bit Grinchy.

2025 has been a historic year for Newcastle United as they won their first domestic trophy in 70 years. Remarkably, part-way through the season, manager Eddie Howe was hospitalised with pneumonia.

Talking about that incident, and the care he received from the NHS and Newcastle Hospitals, Howe agreed with the suggestion that nothing happens in a vacuum; the city, the people, and the football club are intrinsically linked.

To further investigate those connections, George Caulkin spoke to Bruno Guimaraes and childrens' support project co-ordinator Melissa Scott at Newcastle's RVI. A group of first team players, including captain Bruno, paid a visit to the childrens' wards as part of the club's "A Helping Hand at Christmas" campaign.

George also listened in as new CEO David Hopkinson addressed the audience at the "Memory Cafe", a club initiative supporting dementia sufferers and their families, and talked about the event with former player, BBC Radio commentator, and regular attendee John Anderson.

The early Saturday kick-off hasn't been kind to Newcastle in recent times, especially when it comes to fast starts.

Different story against Chelsea today, as crowd and team were on it from the first minute. Just like old times, and at half-time the major concern was that we hadn't put the third, or even fourth, goal past Rob Sanchez.

As energy levels dropped in the second half an improved Chelsea were able to level before a frantic last half-hour with Newcastle left ruing missed chances and at least one penalty decision at the Gallowgate End.

Newcastle United moved fairly comfortably through to another Carabao Cup semi-final, where they will face Manchester City, albeit needing a late Lewis Miley header to clinch the victory.

Yoane Wissa had settled early nerves on his first start as our new number nine, scoring with his first shot, but Fulham's Sasa Lukic was given the freedom of the Gallowgate penalty area to equalise soon after.

In this extended matchday podcast we also hear from Eddie Howe, MOTM Miley, and youth team manager Adam Lawrence on the conclusion of a difficult campaign in the UEFA Youth League.

Nerves were jangling going into the first Tyne-Wear derby, in the league, in almost a decade. Taylor has been feeling it even more than most, but we all had doomsday scenarios running round through our heads.

Well, this was pretty close. Manager sets up defensively, but not even really aiming to hit them on the break (if his quotes are understood correctly). That gamble then backfires when our new striker scores with a magnificent header... at the wrong end.

In addition, Dan Burn was forced off with suspected broken ribs leaving us dangerously short of numbers in defensive positions and with no respite in view on the fixture list.

If you're still reading this, you might well be one of our newest listeners from south South Shields. Fingers crossed you're only here this once. Enjoy ;).

Our stomachs are turning, and it's not because of wriggly worms (although in Chris's case, it may be bratwurst). It's the first league derby in almost a decade, and we are nervous, just like our expert fans, Thomas Concannon and Lisa Mole.

Nervous, because we are the football team with the bigger reputation, which means we've got more to lose. But also, because we keep conceding late in games, and did so again in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Having conceded from a set piece (another theme), Howe's men had fought their way back to lead in Germany before Alejandro Grimaldo snuck through to level. We're not in a bad position in the competition, but it could have been better, and anyway, it's all about the derby now.

It was important to get a win against Burnley for a few reasons; to banish the memory of Spurs' twin-equalisers, to carry momentum into a big week, and to climb the Premier League table.

Did Howe's much-changed eleven and squad, boosted by the first appearance from Yoane Wissa, do all of that? Maybe not quite, but they won the game.

From a sluggish start, through Bruno's Olimpico and Gordon's livewire performance, to Wissa's reception and the late drama, it was the least routine routine win.