For a lot of football fans, the end of a campaign is a time for reflection and anticipation for the start of the next one.
The same can also be said of the boardroom, with clubs' owners toasting successes and considering the failures, before deciding to try and enact on them. The aspiration for Newcastle fans is that for once, the failures are considered and acted on in the manner a football team might, rather than a franchise extension of Sports Direct.
The reason for the hope of some came when, for the first time since buying the club in 2007, Mike Ashley spoke to the sporting media. Admittedly it was to one Sky journalist who is also represented by Ashley's PR Keith Bishop, but it was more than anything so far. Ashley said the club had done a lot wrong in the last few years, and the goal is to invest to get Newcastle in a trophy winning situation.
With any luck, he'll stick to his word, or else the growing protest industry around Newcastle United will continue to evolve in stature. This was a campaign dominated by protestation from the get go, with a lot of it beginning in hangovers from the previous year.
The final home game of 2013/14 was a mass protest against Cardiff City that saw a walkout of around 10,000 people, and after a dreadful start to the campaign, a home clash with Hull City saw a concentrated protest by the SackPardew.com protest group.
Despite a bizarre warning that he was one defeat from the sack - and he managed to lose the game in question - Pardew remained, and even more surreally, Pardew went on a six game winning run, which included victory at Manchester City in the Capital One Cup.
This weird rise and fall nature continued - victory over Chelsea was then followed by hammerings by Arsenal and Spurs, and a home defeat by Sunderland. But it soon seemed as though Newcastle fan's disquiet may soon be solved by its sacrificial lamb moving, and without the threat of dismissal ever been moved - it was later revealed that Ashley never had any intention of sacking Pardew.
Its tricky to pin-point what turned Newcastle's season from middle of the road to near-Armageddon. But everything did not start to turn when the Magpies' season was not necessarily the decision to accept an offer by Crystal Palace to let Pardew move to South London. It wasn't even the dismissal of Neil Warnock by the Eagles. But in many respects, this had a severe changing effect. Many at the time thought Pardew was crazy for moving from a then-9th placed Magpies to a Palace team labouring in the Premier League's bottom 3.
The immediate aftermath was hoped to be temporary, even if it was an ambling shame. Assistant manager John Carver and first team coach Steve Stone failed to win any of their first four games in temporary charge, including the throwing away of three points to a hardly prolific Burnley, and then bowing out of the FA Cup following an attacking-free performance at Leicester where 4,500 travelling fans booed the team off in a stunning display of vitriol and hatred.
What changed everything was a series of moves over the course of the week when the decision to effectively not replace Pardew was rubber stamped. True, Newcastle were stuck when various preferred candidates opted not to walk away from their employers, or break TV commitments. But it was not a helpful choice to appoint Carver, whose record in sole charge in both England and Canada was not exactly stellar.
Seemingly not content with that, a feeble playing squad crying out for reinforcements was weakened further. Italian international full-back Davide Santon was carted off back to Inter Milan, while 5 reserves were carted into a Sports Direct lorry to Rangers, as part of Ashley's attempts to grab power at Ibrox. This was ultimately a bit of a wasted trip for some, with Remie Streete and Kevin Mbabu virtually irrelevant, Gael Bigirimana ruled out through an unspecificed illness, and Shane Ferguson only appearing after the play-offs had gone.
Only Haris Vuckic made an impression, and its highly likely this will convince someone else to take a punt on him. But with six players leaving in a week, this was always a risky strategy, and one that quickly fell to bits, much like the limbs and muscles of a disappointing large quantity of first teamers.
But even then, things didn't look desperate, and a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in February seemed to have the team in position for a fine end, and with it, a fairly predictive drift to the end. But then the bottom fell out in dramatic and histrionic fashion.
The following eight games will forever be remembered as some of Newcastle's worst ever form. Awful performances yielded some pathetic results, as the Magpies lost eight in a row for the first time since 1977. This fatal implosion was ended with a draw, before another defeat at already-doomed QPR seemed to send Newcatle into an apocalyptic slipstream.
With everything going wrong, many were actively hoping for the Magpies to fall through the trap door to spite Ashley. This even included a quantity of fans inside the black and white wall, although many were still on side - even those who had attempted to re-start the protest fires with a boycott of a home clash with Spurs.
Ultimately, the prayers of demise went unheeded, with a slick win against West Ham seeing Newcastle through after the major near-miss story. But its clear for all that after several years of pursing a transfer policy centered on cheap, young, foreign imports with a high re-sale value overseen by local coaches, the enterprise is breaking down.
Whether or not Ashley is willing to deviate course is a question that is yet unanswered. The early signs post-season are yet to hint otherwise, and with the new season already looming very large, something has to change soon or else the aimless drift towards more profits will re-start all over again.
With everything now done, a few observations:
Player of the Season: Ayoze Perez. Its a weird one to think that Newcastle's initial plan was to loan out the Spanish youngster. For a lot of the campaign, Perez was Newcastle's most lively presence, and in a season where black and white shirted players looked woeful and uninterested, it was refreshing to see him offer a lively striking presence.
Most Improved: Steven Taylor. The most secure Newcastle's defence looked in the entire campaign came with the academy graduate in the side - a far cry from a number of shaky displays in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 seasons. This is even in spite of another laughable injury record - keeping him fit is a must.
Worst Player: Emmanuel Riviere. Picking a winner for this "award" is a tricky ask. The woeful Mike Williamson at centre-back, Yoan Gouffran's inept wing-work, Fabricio Coloccini's worrisome defending, and more are fair candidates. So what did Riviere do to justify his place ahead of such lofty competition? Well, nothing. Which for a £6.5million French striker, is not a great return for his investment. One goal in 23 appearances in the league was a pitiful return, and half the time, he looked nothing like gaining further ones.
Most Regressed Player: Tim Krul. Newcastle's goalkeeper was an unexpected World Cup star, with his only appearance in last summer's Brazil showpiece being a decisive penalty shoot-out. But this campaign saw him deliver a number of sins, with his lamentable distribution of the ball a constant problem. A special mention goes out to Moussa Sissoko, who was hyped as the Magpies' Yaya Toure after a good November, then promptly drifted.
Best Signing: Perez. The free signing of Jack Colback was perhaps Newcastle's best signing by economics, while Daryl Janmaat was the best of the big money signings, and was an impressive performer, but Perez was one that the fans took to hearts very quickly, and he looks like a very nice find.
Team of the Season:
Tim Krul - Daryl Janmaat, Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Paul Dummett - Moussa Sissoko, Jack Colback - Gabriel Obertan, Ayoze Perez, Jonas Gutierrez - Papiss Cisse
Best Individual Performance: Jonas Gutierrez has now left Newcastle after seven years in black-and-white, but his individual performance in his final appearance against West Ham is a memory that will last a lifetime. It was an emotional season for the Argentine, who revealed in September he was fighting cancer and only received the clear two months later to return. But an all-action performance against the Hammers that yielded an assist and goal that kept the Magpies in the top flight showed a player in impressively full flight.
Best Goal: Perez's backheel flick against West Brom in November was voted Goal of the Month, with a delightful finish to turn a cross that was going behind him into the goal. It was an excellent goal at the heart of Newcastle's best month. Second goes to Ameobi's thunderbolt at Hull in January, although Gutierrez's strike against West Ham was perhaps the goal with the greatest cheers of all this season.
Best Game: If it was crazy at the time that Newcastle ended Chelsea's 4 month unbeaten start to the Premier League season, it looked even more absurd that it was the case during the late season drift. But in sheer ability, it was a great performance, and a result deservedly achieved after a crazy game that saw third choice keeper Jak Alnwick thrown in at the deep end for a first team debut, and Steven Taylor sent off.
Best Moment: Gutierrez's strike against West Ham on the final day. Newcastle fans everywhere cheered the goal like few others this campaign, with the goal effectively securing Premier League survival ten minutes before it was confirmed by the end of the season.
Worst Game: Virtually all of the worst matches can be found in the eight game losing streak, where Newcastle seemed engaged in a fatal cataclysm and needlessly dragging themselves in the race to face trips to Bristol City and MK Dons in August. But by far the worst offender was a 3-0 hiding at euphoric Leicester City, which saw the Foxes score inside the opening 35 seconds. A humiliating day in the East Midlands ended in accusations of deliberate dismissal and rumours of a bust-up on the way home, with Newcastle looking in fatal danger.
Worst Moment: For a long time, it looked like being another pair of Tyne-Wear Derby defeats, with the late sucker punch at home followed by a feeble performance on Wearside. But nothing really compared with the sheer depressing misery of when Leroy Fer hit a 35-yard bolt past Tim Krul in Newcastle's last away match, which gave already relegated QPR a lead they ultimately held onto. At that point, all looked lost, and had the cards fallen a different way, it would have been.
Manager Musings: For all the postulation that Newcastle fans regretted their protests against Alan Pardew, its worth noting Newcastle fans were not expecting the club to fail to replace him. It was fairly clear in 2013/14 that the relationship had gone, but it remained in an impasse beyond the surreal afternoon against Cardiff in May 2014, and on through to his December move to South London. But Newcastle fans did expect a replacement to be sourced. Instead, John Carver was thrown in at the deep end, with lamentable consequences. Even with injuries, suspensions, and players that didn't care, a run of 3 wins in 20 should automatically disallow him from the top job.
What Does The Team Need?: Everything. After being merely preferable this time last year, a new manager is now essential. On the playing field, he will need a renovation, with players needed in most positions. Top of the list are two/three new central defenders, a new striker, one (maybe two) new wingers, and a left back.
What Will The Team Get?: Its difficult to say. A new manager is close, with Steve McClaren the overwhelming favourite until the surprise name of Patrick Viera turned up. As for players, the likes of Charlie Austin, Alexander Mitrovic and Patrick Bamford have been linked early to solve the striker conundrum, but more is still required.
What Is The Aim for 2015-16?: Avoiding a similar disaster has to be the basic enterprise. Beyond that, its a job to know. Ashley's surprise final day interview said he wanted either a trophy or regular Champions League football, but Newcastle need to built if they're going to be in such a position. Anything less will spell trouble.
With the entire enterprise now on hold for a few weeks, and the season of rampant transfer speculation free to hog the football pages - or at least those not occupied by FIFA's scandals - fans now have to hope some kind of lesson is learned. By the time the weekend of August 8th and the opening game of the season arrives, the stakes will have risen in intensity, and something has to be ready.
But with no input, all Newcastle fans must do is wait and see what ridiculous plans will be curated...
