"I think it is panic stations for Newcastle now. They’re conceding goals and not scoring goals, which takes you to only one place. I’ve been manager there, it’s a big passionate football club. I think a lot of the frustration is not borne out of this season or last season, it goes back decades. The last trophy was 1969 but every time you turn up there it’s a full stadium. The supporters are crying out for success and I just think it’s compounded by the ownership issue this time around, the lack of investment and I think it would be far easier being a dog fight at a lesser club – there’s not so much pressure on you.
"When I was manager I quickly realised you had to be a big player with courage to be there. You must want the ball all the time and some players in that atmosphere do go missing. It will be difficult for them but they’ve got a run of games coming up now where they could gain a lot of points and take some pressure off them. We’re not even in November yet but I fear they’re going to be in a dog fight right through to the very end.
"Given inflation in football, as well. It tells you that they’ve not had the investment that a club of that size and with the turnover they have they should have done better in the transfer market. I think my hometown club Bournemouth do well on a limited budget and there’s other teams that do very well and it sounds mad Bournemouth outspending Newcastle United but that again tells its own story. It’s not impossible to do well in the Premier League without spending hundreds of millions of pounds but you have to invest. And if you’re not investing, everyone else and you’re standing still.
"I think they will just stay up. This time round there’s a different feel to Newcastle. Last year he had the goodwill of going up as Champions. It’s a hard place to play when you’re not playing well, to keep wanting the ball when you’re a goal down. If you were in the same position at a Bournemouth or a Leicester or in less of a football city it would be easier for them. That is my worry for them – the boys up there are playing under extreme pressure. When you’re bottom of the league, it’s compounded several times.