"I am never going to b******* anybody" - those were the words of Steve Bruce last July just after the Magpies had narrowly beaten Doncaster Rovers 3-2 in a pre-season friendly on a balmy night at the Eco-Power Stadium.
The former Newcastle United boss was referring to the lack of summer funds after finding himself back in front of journalists for the first time since lockdown with no Zoom restrictions. Even then a slightly more refreshed Bruce knew that the odds were against him in his dream job, but even he, after a life in football, could not have predicted what was about to unfold.
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After a backdrop of a dire summer on Tyneside - with gloom only partially lifted by the arrival of Joe Willock at the end of the window - a tough campaign lay ahead. And after no wins from West Ham, Aston Villa and Southampton, with just a point on the board, it was little surprise that Bruce's better mood quickly disintegrated.
After four matches, and on the back of a 4-1 defeat at Manchester United, Bruce hit out at the Chronicle when asked about an international break trip to Portugal. He said: "To have to answer questions like that is typical to the question I would get off you - and your newspaper If I am being brutally honest. That's why they are the way they are, the way you are and your negativity and your newspaper."
Yet Bruce, as fed up as the rest of the United faithful with the lack of spending power at St James' Park, did not opt to ban the Chronicle nor stop speaking. Two draws against Leeds and Watford, both games that United should have won, papered over the cracks.
But change - huge change - was on the horizon on Tyneside. Not that anybody would have predicted it after a dire 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nobody knew it then but October 2, 2021, would be a significant day in Newcastle history - it would be the last game of the Mike Ashley era. Indeed, with court cases planned for the new year, it felt like if a takeover was ever going to go through it was going to be spring at the earliest.
Four days after Molineux though a ban was lifted on beIN broadcasting in Saudi Arabia, a key issue to the Premier League's reluctance to push the takeover through. After a call to journalists to "get ready" from a takeover insider, the Premier League then confirmed the deal had been concluded.
Ashley had gone, and Amanda Staveley, the Reuben family and Saudi Arabia's PIF were whisked into Jesmond Dene House waiting for the final touches of the takeover to go through. As the deal became obvious, journalists were then contacted by the new regime and told to prepare for interviews with the Ripon financier.
In less than a few hours, the communication levels had eclipsed Mike Ashley during his 14 year tenure as owner. But the hard work was about to begin.
The first big task of Newcastle's new board
Steve Bruce lasted just 13 days as United boss after the introduction of new owners. Much had been made about whether he would stay on as boss for his 1,000 game in management.
But the powers that be opted against making an immediate change and Bruce took charge of the Spurs game, only to lose 3-2 in front of an excited sell out crowd. Bruce had one last blast at journalists before leaving Benton in the build-up to the game when he said: "You haven't got the story you all wanted."
However, he left by mutual agreement saying: "This is a club with incredible support and I hope the new owners can take it forward to where we all want it to be." The Magpies replaced him with coach Graeme Jones for the trip to Crystal Palace and the former England man guided them to a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park, before losing 3-0 to Chelsea.
It was obvious change was needed and after an attempt to bring in Unai Emery from Villareal failed, Newcastle turned to Eddie Howe.
Eddie Howe's November arrival
Howe was in the stands at the Amex Stadium to watch on as Newcastle drew 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion. It would prove to be handy point with Isaac Hayden netting an equaliser mid-way through the second half.
Confirmation of Howe's appointment followed two days later as he was unveiled at St James' Park. When taking the hotseat Howe insisted he could offer no guarantees with Newcastle slumped at the bottom of the table with no wins after 11 matches.
Howe said: "This is a wonderful opportunity, but there is also a lot of work ahead of us and I am eager to get onto the training ground to start working with the players."
But disaster struck for Howe days later as he went down with Covid and could not take his place in the dugout for the first match, a 3-3 draw with Brentford. He was back in action for the trip to Arsenal but the game ended in a 2-0 defeat.
That meant United really had to beat Norwich at home in the next match but a Ciaran Clark red card dented their hopes and it took a Callum Wilson equaliser from the spot to yield a point. Newcastle checked out of November with just seven points from 14 with no team in history ever recovering from such a poor start...
A Covid hit December saw Newcastle pick up their first win but trouble was around the corner
When all other pundits wrote off Newcastle's chances of survival with Tim Sherwood, Kris Boyd and Paul Merson writing the obituaries for the Magpies, Chronicle Live went the other way and stated that the great escape could be done. Although, as we pointed out at the time, it would take at least 10 victories from the final 24 matches to do it.
The first of those wins came at home to Burnley on December 4 courtesy of Wilson's first half winner. The Clarets put up a tough fight but Newcastle were finally off and running. A week later it was a case of two steps forward, two steps back with a 4-0 pasting at Leicester plunging United back into trouble.
It would set the tone for a difficult December as a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool and a 4-0 beating at home to Man City underlined the job Howe had on his hands. A precious point was banked at home to Manchester United after Allan Saint-Maximin opened the scoring before the Red Devils fought back.
The month of December ended with a spate of Covid cases forcing fixtures at Everton and Southampton off. A tough year ended with Newcastle second bottom and two points adrift of Watford.
New board make big impact in January window
The arrival of Kieran Trippier started 2022 in fine style on the recruitment front as the England defender showed he was happy to take a gamble and leave Atletico Madrid for a relegation battle. However, an FA Cup defeat at the hands of Cambridge in front of watching boss Yasir Al-Rumayyan showed nothing was ever easy for Newcastle.
The supremo headed to the dressing room after the game, but not to display anger, only to show support to Howe and pledge that everything that was needed in January would be provided. By the time the team bus pulled up at Elland Road, Trippier had been joined by £25million striker Chris Wood.
Both stars played their part in a 1-0 win over Leeds as Jonjo Shelvey's free-kick secured the points before jetting off to Saudi Arabia to meet the owners and train in the sunshine. Howe has pinpointed the Middle East trip as one of the turning points of the season Yet the month ended with three more signings in Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Matt Targett. Things were definitely looking up on Tyneside.
Fantastic February rams words of critics back down their throats
The Magpies returned from the Middle East to secure wins at home to Everton, 3-1, and Aston Villa, 1-0, and suddenly after three successive wins, the Magpies were out of the relegation zone. But no sooner had Trippier whipped a free-kick home against Villa he was limping off with a foot injury.
Rotten luck continued to dog Newcastle but they didn't let it get them down and a fantastic February continued with a creditable draw at West Ham with Joe Willock netting his first of the season to grab a point.
A week later, Willock was at it again as he scored at Brentford along with Joelinton in a 2-0 win. With 25 matches played, Newcastle had 25 points.
Talk of the drop had been replaced by whether Newcastle could secure mathematical safety before Easter Sunday. Howe walked away with manager of the month after an unbelievable turnaround.
New board show class by inviting local media into boardroom for March meet
The month started with Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi inviting the local Press pack to lunch in the boardroom as the corridors of power reopened for the first time since 2012 no less. The day was capped with a superb 2-1 win over Brighton as Ryan Fraser and Fabian Schar got the goals.
One of the season's key nights though came at Southampton a few days later. And the muscle of January spending power paid off as Chris Wood and Bruno grabbed the winner. Bruno's backheeled stunner was arguably the moment of the season for the away support who had travelled to Hampshire on a Thursday night for a rearranged game.
United sat on 31 points with 11 games left but if they needed a reminder they weren't safe it came with two defeats away at Chelsea and Everton. Howe's Magpies flew off to Dubai for a much needed recharge.
Howe's side show bouncebackability in April
April began in a horrendous manner after Newcastle went 1-0 up thanks to Schar in London but were then beaten heavily in a 5-1 mauling. Yet Howe stayed cool and didn't get carried away with the defeat.
Instead, he knuckled down and worked with the players, serving up wins at home to Wolves and Leicester City at St James' Park with Bruno's last gasp winner a real highlight. That left United 12 points clear of the drop zone.
A goal of the month strike from Miguel Almiron then secured the points against Crystal Palace to make it three wins in a row before a 3-0 victory away to doomed Norwich nudged Newcastle on to 43 points. It was surely job done. Only Liverpool dented a positive month with a 1-0 win on Tyneside.
Eddie Howe's calmness pays off again in May
United had started May in the top 10 but were brought down to earth by Man City in a 5-0 hammering. Again, Howe did not get too emotionally involved when dissecting the defeat, simply saying: "City can do that to anybody, they're that good."
And the calm approach worked again as United finished the season at home with a 2-0 win over Arsenal as Bruno scored again. The final day saw Newcastle beat Burnley 2-1 thanks to a Callum Wilson double. United did not make the top 10 but 11th is hardly a position to be sniffed at given where Newcastle were after 14 matches.
Looking ahead
The summer is set to be hectic on Tyneside - even by Newcastle standards. A clutch of senior players will leave in the next six weeks while four or five permanent deals are expected.
The aim next season will be for United to establish themselves in the top half of the table and take a serious look at one of the cups. Fans aren't making any big demands, they are just delighted to see the club showing ambition again.
