TOON TROUBLE

In the dying moments at Villa Park on Sunday David Edgar was sent off for a second bookable offence and whilst it did not make a difference to the sorry outcome it did sum up a dismal season for Newcastle United.

The messiah had returned to St James Park but made no impact whatsoever. In fact, Alan Shearer's record of four points out of a possible 24 was worse than any other time throughout this season.

Of course, he will not get a hard time from the media - which he is part of for his work with the BBC - and most of the damage had already been done prior to his arrival, but some blame must lay at his door, whether the fans want to accept it or not.

So where did it all go wrong for one of the best supported clubs in the country?

In August pre-season euphoria was high with four new signings and 'King Kev' in charge so a top six finish was a serious expectation and this was confirmed with a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford on the first day.

Soon, though, stories were rife that Keegan was having problems with director of football Dennis Wise and, despite plenty of club denials, the inevitable happened and the fans' favourite resigned on September 4.

Club owner Mike Ashley became a target for the Newcastle faithful with the blame firmly placed at his door for the ensuing fiasco. Along with Ashley, Wise also came in for serious criticism and both failed to attend the following home game. It was not long before Ashley decided to sell the club but buyers were scarce so the club was left in limbo.

Chris Houghton was left as a caretaker manager but poor results against Hull and Spurs led to veteran coach Joe Kinnear being given his chance after a long spell in the wilderness. This was met with a muted response by fans as Kinnear was hardly a big name and results did not get any better.

However, the rest of the bottom half of the league continued to struggle and suddenly Newcastle, courtesy of wins against Villa and Spurs, reached the heady heights of 12th in the Premiership. It did not last long, though, and the 5-1 humbling by Liverpool over Christmas left the club reeling.

Just one win in 15 matches told its own story and, to make matters worse, Kinnear ended up in hospital in need of heart surgery.

Back in the relegation zone, in what appeared like a masterstroke, Ashley turned to 'Toon' legend Alan Shearer to rescue the club. It did not turn out that way and despite his constant uttering that he could not fault his players' commitment; Shearer could not kid the fans who could blatantly see that his players were not straining every muscle to get Newcastle out of the hole.

Lacking in technical knowledge was something Shearer could live with due to his managerial inexperience but admitting he was unable to galvanise this group of internationals would be admitting failure on his part. He was, of course, unwilling to do this ... but four points and four goals told its own story.

Whether he continues as manager is not a matter of great importance, any decent manager will be able to make this club a good one again and promotion next year should be a formality. No, what is needed is a plan to turn this club into a stable one with a clear vision for its future. It must start with a three-year contract for the next manager and, irrelevant of results, a decision to stick with him for this tenure.

Of course, this is highly unlikely as this is football and it seems to believe it can operate in a parallel universe to the rest of us, but unless the club can learn from past mistakes it is likely they will repeat them.

The owner might want to look no further than Leeds United and the position they find themselves in to see what can happen to a so-called 'big club'.

The fans know what is needed, the media know and, of course, the club knows but expectations are so high at Newcastle that commonsense is a rare commodity so I am sure we will be watching this saga continue for a few more years yet.

It will be sad not to have such a big club in the Premiership next year but it is very difficult to argue that they do not deserve it.