Enjoyment has been in short supply at St James’ Park this season, with protests much more prevalent than parties.

But as Chief Sports Writer SCOTT WILSON discovered, Peter Lovenkrands is smiling through the gloom.

THERE are many words to describe the current situation at Newcastle United. ‘Chaotic’ would sum up a season that has seen one manager dismissed and another one hospitalised, while ‘calamitous’ would reflect a league position just four points clear of the relegation zone ahead of tomorrow’s crucial home game with Everton.

But ‘fun’ is hardly a sentiment that has been synonymous with St James’ Park for quite a while now. Unless, that is, your name is Peter Lovenkrands.

“People might laugh when I say I have rediscovered the fun side of the game here, given the ups and downs that Newcastle have had,” said Lovenkrands, who became Joe Kinnear’s first signing as Magpies manager when he penned a deal to the end of the season in mid-January. “But it is true.

“I am just so happy to be here, playing football and getting time on the pitch. My family is settled and I am enjoying it. Honestly.”

If Lovenkrands can extract enjoyment from the current situation on Tyneside, one shudders to think what life must have been like as a Schalke player.

Tough, is the answer, with the versatile forward having been ostracised by manager Ralf Rangnick after making just a handful of first-team appearances for the German side following a free transfer from Rangers in 2006.

Lovenkrands was unable to secure a new club and spent the following four months training with Schalke’s reserves and youth players.

He was eventually released from the remainder of his contract at the end of last year, bringing an end to the most difficult chapter of a previously successful career that had taken him to AB Copenhagen as well as Ibrox.

“It was a tough few months,” he said. “I wanted to be away from Germany and they (Schalke) knew that early this season so they didn’t want to use me because I didn’t want to be there.

“I had a good first year in Germany and really enjoyed it. But I had injuries in the second year and they were difficult times. My family didn’t settle off the pitch, and we decided to get away. We couldn’t really live there any more.

“I told the club my decision, and I was close to going to Fulham in the summer window, but the deal fell through. Then Schalke appointed a new coach and he didn’t want to use me. It was understandable.

“I know what I can do on a pitch and I just needed someone to give me a chance. But then Newcastle’s doctor, who used to be at Rangers, got in touch with me, and the move started from there. I have a chance here now, a big one, and I want to take it.”

That chance would have arrived much sooner had Lovenkrands not spurned an opportunity to move to St James’ in 2000. Sir Bobby Robson had him watched on a number of different occasions in the Danish league, and tabled a formal bid that was accepted by the AB Copenhagen board.

However, Rangers were also on Lovenkrands’ trail, and presented with a straight choice, the 11-time Denmark international chose the then- Scottish champions.

At the time, his decision was interpreted as a snub to Newcastle. But given that he was only 20 at the time, Lovenkrands, who also came close to joining Middlesbrough in 2005, insists the reality was somewhat different.

“I could have moved in 2000,” admitted the 29-yearold.

“And I came here to have a look around and meet people.

But I decided to sign for Rangers because I thought, as a young lad, I would have more chance of getting playing time as a boy coming through there than at Newcastle.

I thought Newcastle were a bit too big for me then.

“I came back to the North- East five years later because Middlesbrough were interested at one point when Steve McClaren was in charge. I think they wanted me, but they had too many players and couldn’t get me in.”

Having initially signed a short-term deal until June, he is hoping to earn an extended stay over the course of the next three months.

He could hardly have made a better start to his Newcastle career with a goal on his first start for the Magpies in the 3-2 victory at West Brom.

He started up front at the Hawthorns, but with Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka expected to be available to face Everton tomorrow he could find himself competing with Damien Duff for the left-wing berth.

His presence should guarantee some much-needed cover in the run-in, with Newcastle still embroiled in a relegation battle that Lovenkrands feels should not be concerning a club of their status.

“Strangely, I have always looked at Newcastle’s results wherever I have been,” he said. “As an outsider looking in, you just saw a massive club. A great club.

“Now I am here, you realise just how big it is, with the fans, the stadium and my team-mates. It has huge untapped potential, but the club is currently lying at the wrong end of the table.

“When I came here, I found it unbelievable that Newcastle were where they are in the league. Such a massive club down there was not right. We are not a team who should be lying down there.”