Is history repeating itself as Newcastle's relegation worries intensify?

Off-field protests overshadow what happens on the pitch

The 2008-09 relegation season was the point at which popular frustration with the Mike Ashley regime boiled over into a series of more focused protests.

The catalyst for the anger was the departure of Kevin Keegan in the opening month of the season, and the September home defeat to Hull City was bookended by protests underneath the Milburn Stand that saw Newcastle fans campaigning for the removal of the ‘Cockney Mafia’.

The anger in the stands intensified when Joe Kinnear was appointed for his chaotic six-month managerial spell, and there are obvious parallels with the current situation, where every home game heralds calls for a new protest or boycott.

Even John Carver was forced to concede that the increasingly poisonous atmosphere is making life difficult for the players, and the evidence from six years ago suggests that a fractured relationship between a club and its fan base is a recipe for relegation.

A rookie Geordie manager proves incapable of turning things around

When Alan Shearer was appointed to replace Kinnear in early April 2009, he inherited a side in serious trouble. Eight games later, and with only one win to his name, he was reflecting on the reality of relegation to the Championship.

Shearer’s Newcastle-supporting roots were cited as a reason to believe he would be an instant hit on Tyneside, but his complete lack of top-flight experience was ultimately more important. As results failed to improve, he increasingly began to look out of his depth.

For Shearer back then, read Carver now. Newcastle were in a much better position when Pardew left, but they have subsequently dropped like a stone after a wretched run that has seen their unproven head coach become increasingly ineffective.

Shearer’s win ratio was 12.5 per cent; Carver’s, if you include the FA Cup defeat at Leicester, is also 12.5 per cent after last weekend’s defeat to Swansea. Neither figure’s Geordie heritage has been anything like adequate compensation for their lack of managerial expertise.

A disinterested captain whose mind appears to be elsewhere

Michael Owen’s conduct during Newcastle’s relegation season was little short of a disgrace. The striker was into his fourth season at St James’ Park by the time he presided over the Magpies’ drop to the second tier, and it had long become clear that he was coveting a move away from the North-East.

His performances as Newcastle slipped out of the Premier League were poor, and his lack of leadership was a major issue. A squad that was desperately crying out for some passion and direction from its captain was greeted with a dispiriting sense of disinterest.

Is it too harsh to suggest that the same thing is happening now with Fabricio Coloccini? Given his previous agitating for a return to Argentina, it is hard to claim that his heart is 100 per cent committed to Newcastle, and even in his better days, he was never the kind of skipper who wore his heart on his sleeve.

His performances this season have been erratic at best, and like Owen, he has suffered something of an injury-hit campaign. Crucially, though, Coloccini still has four more games in which to turn things around.

Big-name players failing to live up to their reputation

The perception back in 2009 was that Newcastle were too good to go down. As well as Owen, they boasted a squad that featured the likes of Jose Enrique, Kevin Nolan, Nicky Butt, Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka.

On paper, they looked capable of finishing in the top half of the table, but too many players were going through the motions and by the end of the season, the Magpies were a group of highly-paid individuals looking nothing like a team.

If anything, the standard of the current squad is probably even lower than six years ago, but in the likes of Tim Krul, Daryl Janmaat, Moussa Sissoko, Cheick Tiote, Remy Cabella, Siem de Jong and Papiss Cisse, Newcastle still boast a core of players that would make it into most teams in the Premier League.

The reality, however, is that very few have been playing to their peak this season, and some have been embarrassingly far off the pace. As a result, Newcastle are worse than most neutrals perceive them to be when they are only looking at the team sheet.

Discipline goes out of the window as the red cards mount

As Newcastle’s struggles intensified towards the end of the 2009 campaign, so the squad’s discipline imploded. Joey Barton, Sebastien Bassong and David Edgar all saw red in the final four games of the season, making survival all the more difficult.

Barton’s dismissal in a 3-0 defeat at Anfield was especially senseless, creating strong parallels with the recent red cards sustained by Coloccini and Sissoko (also at Anfield), and the seven-match ban handed to Cisse in the wake of last month’s defeat to Manchester United.

There is a sense that the frustration is mounting, and if Newcastle’s players suffer further meltdowns in the next four games, the effect could be catastrophic.

A decent run in provides a false sense of security

Newcastle were flirting with relegation for most of the 2008-09 season, but even a month or two before the end, there was a sense that their final few matches would get them out of trouble.

Four of their final five games pitted them against Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Fulham and Aston Villa, with three of those four matches taking place at home. However, aside from beating Boro, a goalless draw with Portsmouth represented Newcastle’s only other point from their final five outings.

With five points currently separating the Magpies from the drop zone, there is also a sense this time around that the fixture list has created an inviting route to safety.

Newcastle’s remaining four games pit them against Leicester, West Brom, QPR and West Ham. All four look winnable. However, anyone who has seen the Magpies in their last seven matches will know that nothing can be taken for granted at the moment.