The Loyal Family

Scott reminds us where players' loyalties lie. Without wishing to spoil it for you, it's not with us

It’s Summer 2026 and loyalty is thin on the ground. In all walks of life, it's the thing that is being phased out like an old diesel car that throws out virulent fumes from its exhaust.

It’s everywhere. In politics, the last general election saw a new record for aggregate volatility. Basically people don't care about who they vote for anymore and even in our relationships, almost a third of marriages last year ended because of adultery.

Why then, do we feel so let down when those most humble, down to earth human beings -elite level footballers - kick us in the proverbials and show zero allegiance to the flag?

At Newcastle it’s been one of those pre-seasons where, if you are that way inclined, it could get you chucking that season ticket (you won't by the way and have you sorted the cup scheme direct debit yet?).

Yes, we have seen new hungry young talent come in from Europe with the promise of more to come. However that’s not anywhere near the headline here. It's the loss of our most sought after players from the Carabao Cup winning team one after another and just when you think that's it, another one bites the dust.

When the takeover happened, who would have seen this coming. Not like they said in the brochure, eh?

It can be argued that all of those players we got good money for and up until now, none of the leavers are being mourned, but all within a year suggests that underneath the riotous dropping of new replica kits and buying expensive grade 1 listed buildings, it's a bit of a shit show.

Newcastle to all intents and purposes have had one poor season since the takeover and, although most of the league campaign was eye bleeding, we still did well enough in Europe. So the likes of Tonali, Gordon and indeed Bruno and Hall owe us another year to rectify that.

Don’t they? Why wouldn't they? We are NUFC, we deserve much more than that. Well the short answer is we don’t.

The dominoes started falling last year with Isak. His antics and his agent threw a grenade at the powers that be at NE1 and they failed miserably in their attempts to defuse it. They got backed into a corner and instead of coming out fighting, Isak was able to ride roughshod over NUFC and set the precedent that we now have seen panning out a year on.

Remember at Elland Road in August when the missing Isak was getting abused as the players were going off? Bruno looked apoplectic and didn't like it one bit. It wasn't a show of support but he was certainly coming out in sympathy.

Gordon had been picking and choosing when he played for a while now. Since he missed the late pen in front of the Gwladys Street end to be exact, and on the last day, when he distanced himself from all of his team mates in the walkaround, it was pretty plain he was away, and looking back, he had the choice of Barcelona or Bayern Munich. No contest is it really?

Tonali was the one.

Danny Baker on his old 606 show, used to have a segment called transfer lions and you had to suggest a move that would be equal to Johnston going to Rangers or even a Figo or a Campbell who both crossed the barricades. Tonali’s move was even worse than that.

I wasn't particularly angry, just utterly bemused at his choice of destination. Tottenham!!!!?

After all we had been through, he just ditched us for a team that was even worse than us last season and a club whose biggest achievement in the last few years was having Beyonce sold out for six nights. I mean would it have hurt me more if he went to Sunderland? Undoubtedly,

But at least we could have got angry. At this point I cant even be arsed to do that. Should he have given us one more year? Probably yes, but as a club and a support, why did we not see the signs?

This is a player who despite doing some adorable things when he was here, walked around the San Siro with a face like a smacked arse because he was going in the opposition dressing room. And he literally said late last year that he was probably off soon. He even mentioned AC Milan on his first day at Tottenham. He's like a snooker player, already plotting his next shot.

He’s going to be earning a lot more money because Tottenham can, and we can't, spend like no tomorrow. He obviously fancies playing alongside gods like Djed Spence rather than gods like Jacob Murphy. The statement was sincere, but we aren't falling for all that shit are we?

He's ditched us when the going got tough for more money and is probably going to celebrate when he scores against us. People have said he's done it better than Isak but short of going on strike the result is the same, no? At least Isak fucked us off for the champions.

Again, though, people just think these players have come to Newcastle through good old hard work and the toil has been rewarded by a massive move to a massive club.

Let's look at the facts. Isak was more than a player to the fans of Real Sociedad. They idolised him. He had not only become a fan favourite, he had found solace and a home in San Sebastian after a nomadic existence. Then Saudi-rich Newcastle come calling and they are kicked in the teeth, like we were.

Guess what the Sociedad fans said “Why couldn't he have given us one more year?” Sound familiar?

Gordon was 16 when he made his debut at Everton and grew up at the place, but forced a move to Newcastle by missing training and treating them with as much disrespect as Isak did. However its alright when it’s us, eh?

I move on to Bruno. The heartbeat of the club, our talisman and legend, but he misses a pen in a national team disaster and suddenly he's off as well.

Again Lyon fans will point out (although the fee was a godsend financially for them) that they were left utterly bemused and a tad angry that he had left them for a team that at that point had just won its second game of the season in January and had lost to Cambridge in the FA Cup.

Are we kidding ourselves that it was anything other than doubling his Olympique Lyonnais wages that saw him land here, or was the song that celebrates the fact that he turned down Arsenal just a load of old pony?

The Premier League might well have its cartels and we might well be from the outside looking in with our snotty nose pressed against the window, but as a club we certainly don't help ourselves. However last season was shit, we certainly need a change and if anyone is good at selling crown jewels, it's us.

Newcastle in 2026 is no different to the one who sold another midfielder to Tottenham (who was on another level to this one, by the way) 40 years ago. Also we don't have Keegan furiously explaining himself on the Milburn steps. Shearer was loyal, yes, but let's not kid ourselves, he was probably one of the highest paid players in Europe at that point. He was hardly slumming it at St James’

Be careful who you idolise next and don't get the names on the back of that new shirt. Any one of our players and any of the new ones could leave that £85 top gathering dust in the cupboard. While I'm on, does anyone want a Sweden number 9 tracksuit?

Attachment is futile folks.

And to all those people this week that have suggested Bruno deserves his move and should be continued to be treated like a legend despite essentially throwing his toys out the pram and wanting a non-existent move to a team who are not well liked in our support, I think that's a tad gracious of them. There I said it.

Newcastle may not match his ambition and I get that, but they didn't mine last season either. The club might well have promised him something like Isak maintains he was promised, but we will never know except in a tear jerking statement which people will fawn over.

Newcastle to us is special. To us it's a religion. But at this point in time (it might change), we remain a stepping stone for top players and as a club we remain a selling club, just now with added bells and whistles. How that changes is the big question and at this point in time I think it suits everyone involved.

Except us it seems, who ironically can never, ever, be accused of that aforementioned aggregate volatility.

Or in other words, modern football is shit.

Scott Robson