New year, new United? Mags must make most of home run

...AND IT'S TIME FOR OUR SUMMER SIGNINGS TO STEP UP

- JOHNGIBSON

Newcastle's rare away win against lowly Burnley can be a starting point for a bright opening to the new year MB MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES

(MB MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES)

NOW don't you dare blow it. Don't you dare! 2026 is a new year so let us have a new determination and an old swagger.

Having at last sniffed rarefied air away from the sweet smell of the cathedral on the hill United are confronted by four successive home matches over varied competitions and six of the next seven on our soil.

Oh, and the solitary away game is at Wolves, an even easier visit than Burnley who were taken 3-1 for only our second three-pointer on the road.

I repeat, don't blow it. This is a real opportunity to ease pain if not justify existence. A real opportunity for Eddie Howe to remind fans of what he has given us and can give again after shredding us all. As for the players, they owe us and themselves.

Here we can instil confidence and belief instead of uncertainty and disbelief. A chance to get off a bucking bronco and on to a smooth ride.

Let us quickly examine what is to come: Crystal Palace, Leeds, Bournemouth in the FA Cup, and Man City in the Carabao Cup on familiar territory then Wolves away, PSV Eindhoven home in the Champions League, and Aston Villa home.