FIVE-POINT PLAn

1 COMMUNICATE WITH SUPPORTERS

Non- existent throughout Mike Ashley’s reign, communication must be improved between the club and its fans if the owner is here to stay. Managing director Lee Charnley told fans, “You’ll be hearing from me a lot more” in the first matchday programme of 2019- 20, then remained silent for the rest of the season. The club needs to talk, listen to and engage with the people who love it.

2 FIND A LETHAL FRONTMAN

Collectively, Newcastle’s three strikers scored six league goals between them, across 46 starts. Dwight Gayle was clearly the main goal threat with four in 10, but a new striker is essential – £ 40m Brazilian Joelinton looks as if he’d struggle to hit water if he fell out of a boat. Two goals in 45 hours of league football isn’t a great return, is it?

3 STRENGTHEN IN MIDFIELD

Newcastle are desperate for some legs in midfield. Isaac Hayden has proven himself to be a fine Premier League player and an able foil for Jonjo Shelvey, but the engine room lacks guile and creativity – for all of the misfiring upfront, an xg of 36.5 in 38 games is a damning indictment on this team’s ability to make goalscoring chances. It can’t all be left to Allan Saint- Maximin and Miguel Almiron.

4 KEEP THE POWDER DRY

A whopping 44 per cent of Newcastle’s shots last term were taken from outside the 18- yard box, a ratio second only to trigger- happy Manchester United. Of 174 long- range efforts, the Magpies scored... four. Yes, Jonjo Shelvey has his binoculars celebration lined up, but a word of advice: less pinging, more probing.

5 GIVE MAGS HOPE

What is the point of a club that doesn’t strive to be the best it can possibly be? For more than a decade, Newcastle United have been an ambitionless zombie in a state of footballing paralysis; now, following another collapsed takeover, the hierarchy will again be thrilled with mere survival. How many times is Ashley willing to invite another relegation?