THERE was both frustration and anger among Newcastle United’s fans when they left the Stadium of Light on Sunday after watching a fifth successive defeat to Sunderland.

And yet, while the Black Cats’ relegation fight may well have received the perfect boost under Dick Advocaat, the same Magpies supporters remain disillusioned, rightly wondering what the future holds.

There are only seven matches remaining and the best thing that can be said about Newcastle’s plight is that there are nine points separating them from the bottom three.

A failure to address the key issues facing the club during the summer, though, could spell disaster at St James’ Park and the threat of Championship football could be much greater in 12 months time if they are not.

WHO WILL BE HEAD COACH?

John Carver has worked with what he has got. He has tried to change a couple of things but a lack of depth to the squad has not helped his cause. What he will be judged on is results and the results have not been good enough under his watch.

Carver has won just two of his 12 matches in charge since Alan Pardew stepped aside; he has lost eight of those to drop seven points adrift of the top ten place Mike Ashley demands. Steve McClaren appears to be the most likely successor, but it is difficult to see how Carver can stay in the job.

TRANSFER POLICY

Whether it is McClaren, Carver or somebody else in charge next season, Ashley needs to give the head coach greater options to work with in his squad. Far too many players have left – particularly in defence – without being properly replaced.

The transfer approach over the last few years has been focused on recruitment from abroad, under the age of 25 in the hope of making a profit. Yet such a policy has only really earned one successful season and they have struggled to repeat that since 2012.

That has not prevented chief scout Graham Carr from targeting Marseille’s Andre Ayew and Anderlecht’s Aleksandar Mitrovic for this summer, but is that the right approach? And will the new boss be happy to work in that way.

WHO WILL LEAVE?

Jonas Gutierrez, Ryan Taylor and Sammy Ameobi are all out of contract and unlikely to have their deals extended, so their departures would further deplete a squad which has already seen Hatem Ben Arfa, Davide Santon and Mapou Yannga-Mbiwa leave since last September.

There are also huge question marks over the future of Cheik Tiote and Moussa Sissoko. Does either of them want to stay at St James’ Park amid interest from Champions League clubs? And does Ashley even want to keep them, knowing that they could be sold at a decent profit.

Goalkeeper Tim Krul is also reaching the point where he could be sold, particularly given the pending arrival of Karl Darlow who has spent the season on loan at previous club Nottingham Forest. This transfer window could, finally, be the one when Papiss Cisse is finally moved on after 18 months of uncertainty.

THE FUTURE OF MIKE ASHLEY

The biggest decision to be made is by Ashley himself – at the top. Sunday’s defeat to Sunderland led to the launch of the Mike Ashley Out campaign yesterday ... brought to you by the same people responsible for SackPardew.com.

In truth the new protests are unlikely to have much of an effect on Ashley, who is well aware that he has become public enemy No 1 on the Gallowgate over the last few years anyway.

Ashley has put the club on a sound financial footing, illustrated by the posting of an £18.7m profit when Newcastle’s accounts were revealed recently. But there remains a theory that he will sell-up at the right price.

The Newcastle owner does not seem to have the desire to invest in the squad at this stage, but if he has plans to sell up in the future then keeping Premier League football on Tyneside is a priority for his business plan too.

A new head coach appointment in the summer could lead to a summer of spending; or at least that’s what Newcastle fans will be hoping for any way.