Why Is The Sink Still in Newcastle's Kitchen? Where It All Went Wrong

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Yesterday afternoon saw the end of an era for the Premier League and, in particular, Newcastle United.

After 16 years as a top flight club, in which they had challenged for the title, Newcastle's fate was sealed with a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, condemning them to Championship football next season.

Newcastle's Premier League era began with a legend, or rather, a "Messiah" and finished in the same vain.

Kevin Keegan's first reign as manager brought with it the golden age of the modern era, as they came within touching distance of a first piece of silverware since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup of 1969.

The thought that Alan Shearer could have repeated those heroics by achieving safety was wishful thinking by those still clinging to the days when Shearer was their goalscoring hero.

A few weeks ago, B/R's David Gore coined the phrase "Messiahs before managers" and I can't sum it up better.

Since Mike Ashley lost the fans' support, that has been the philosophy he has stuck by.

When Sam Allardyce was leading Newcastle to a now enviable 11th place in the league, the confusingly spoilt fans chanted "You don't know what you're doing" to him.

I say confusingly spoilt because they have no reason to be so. Yes, they have a rich history with players like Jackie Milburn, Paul Gascoigne, and Alan Shearer himself, and a great stadium, but, when it comes to a bragging contest, they haven't had any ammo for 40 years now.

In fact, before Allardyce they had Glenn Roeder and Graeme Souness in charge, neither of whom excelled Allardyce's achievements.

Why, then, did those brainless fans berate Allardyce so readily?

Simple. Newcastle fans are among the worst in England.

Let me explain that statement before I cause uproar amongst any reading Geordies.

Newcastle fans are often considered among the best fans in the country, along with those of Liverpool and Portsmouth. And, at times, this is more than justified.

However, it all depends on whether or not they take a liking to the man in charge. If they do, then they will be the most loyal fans you come across. This has been seen in recent times with the second coming of Keegan and currently with the management of Shearer.

If they don't like the man in charge, see Allardyce, Souness, and to a certain extent Joe Kinnear, although I think he won them over a bit, they can be hugely detrimental.

During his tenure at Newcastle, Allardyce won 34 points in 24 games, an average of 1.4 per game. This would have given them a total of 54 points this season, a tally that would have been enough to secure them European football.

Sam Allardyce did know what he was doing.

In comparison, Keegan won 24 points in his 21 games, an average of 1.1 point per game (enough for a 13th place finish), while Shearer won just five points from his eight games in charge, an average of 0.63 points per game, which would have secured them just 24 points over a whole season, a bottom place finish.

Alan Shearer is the man who doesn't know what he is doing.

So why don't the Newcastle faithful get on his back?

Messiahs before managers.

I truly believe Mike Ashley only hired Alan Shearer to get the fans off his back following Keegan's departure. The fans can be Newcastle's biggest help, but also their biggest hindrance.

So does the blame lie with the fans?

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?