Love is tearing Tyneside apart

English FA Cup fifth round: The loyalty of Newcastle supporters is a double-edged sword for the club, argues Michael Walker

Newcastle United returned to Tyneside with a bump yesterday lunchtime. It was literal, a heavy landing on the flight back from Groningen, and metaphorical. Victorious they may have been on Thursday at Heerenveen in the UEFA Cup, but Newcastle were wounded.

In years to come all at the club may fondly recall Alan Shearer's emphatic equaliser and Lee Bowyer's backheeled winner, but they will also remember it as the night when chants of "Sack the board" were heard once again from Newcastle supporters.

This was at last a collective public expression of a feeling many fans have held privately for some time. A common refrain from Geordie punters recently is, "I still love the club, but I no longer like it." That disillusionment stems from annoyance and embarrassment at the manner of chairman Freddy Shepherd's handling of affairs, takes in an increasing sense of distance from overpaid players and includes a super-size helping of dashed hope.

Expectations raised under Kevin Keegan in the 1990s and for a while under Bobby Robson have withered. Fifty years on from Newcastle's last domestic trophy, the FA Cup, they have been forced to look on as clubs the size of Oxford United and Swindon Town have left Wembley with trophies.

In such circumstances fingers will always be pointed, and when a few hundred fans subjected Shepherd to some unpleasant personal abuse in Heerenveen, there could be no mistaking who they regard as culpable. Should Chelsea leave St James' Park with a win tomorrow, effectively ending another domestic season for Newcastle, the level of explicit revolt could prove crucial.

"I've got broad shoulders, I can take the flak," was Shepherd's response yesterday in Groningen. "All I have ever done is in the best interests of Newcastle United."

Despite his best intentions, however, the last four Newcastle managers - Robson, Ruud Gullit, Kenny Dalglish and Keegan - have left in early or mid-season. That means four of the past eight seasons have been stymied by the inevitable upheaval of a new manager arriving. But Newcastle fans have filled the ground anyway.

Their loyalty in a way has been a hindrance to change and it is the threat of disloyalty that will make Shepherd and the Halls, Douglas and John, think long and hard about Graeme Souness's future as manager.

There has been speculation about that since the September day when the Scot walked in. Alan Hansen, his friend and former team-mate, mused aloud about it early on, saying, "Everybody knows Graeme Souness will not be given enough time at Newcastle." It was not long before Souness talked openly about his worries.

In November, two days after Chelsea had knocked Newcastle out of the League Cup at St James's, Souness spoke about the culture of the club and the city. "I've been here seven or eight weeks and so I don't know everything about the club just yet," he said. "But what I would like to touch upon is that we should all be pulling in the same direction. That's not the case and I've found that out quickly."

Souness refused to enlarge - "at another time I will" - but it is known he and Shepherd have problems with the opinions appearing in local newspapers and on radio.

Some of them are hostile. For example, there was roughly a 50-50 split among fans over Craig Bellamy's departure. But many are not, and the division among supporters makes it difficult to generalise about where the club go from here.

There are those willing to say Newcastle are ungovernable, or to use Bellamy's phrase, "This is a different sort of club, almost geared to be negative. It's always ready to blow."

Unwittingly Celestine Babayaro, just signed from Chelsea, echoed that sentiment. "The passion of the fans is what has stood out straight away," he said after Thursday's match. "The Newcastle supporters love their club in a way that fans of other teams maybe don't."

Love can tear you apart, of course.

An indication of Souness's attitude came before leaving for Heerenveen when he envisaged his own end at St James's Park and said: "Someone will do it here and get the message across and win something." Perhaps, but when?