The new Coca-Cola Championship fixtures are out tomorrow with the Magpies yet to announce details of their pre-season campaign.
In addition, the inevitable process of slashing the club's wage bill, currently running at in excess of £74million, is yet to start, although big earners Michael Owen and Mark Viduka will become free agents at the end of this month.
But several more expensively-acquired players will have to go while at the same time a new squad needs to be assembled for the challenge of trying to achieve promotion back to the Barclays Premier League at the first attempt.