Newcastle Need To Look At Sunderland For Inspiration In Battle Against The Drop

There's a first time for everything...

By Ross Tweddell /

It's now or never for Newcastle United. The humiliating defeat away to Leicester City, coupled with other results going against The Magpies, has left them just two points above North East neighbours Sunderland who occupy the final relegation place AND have a game in hand. All this with just three games to play, all relegation rivals on the rise, and Newcastle seemingly declared on 35 points no out, just yet. You just can't see where the next point is coming from. The team is so blatantly bereft of confidence and have no leader, on or off the pitch. Fabricio Coloccini's leadership skills have long been questioned while John Carver will continue to preach his own Geordieness is what makes him qualified enough to lead the club to safety in his own little deluded world. This is in the face of the fact he has now almost certainly lost the dressing room following his scandalous comments surrounding the motives of Mike Williamson's sending off. Things were pretty bad to begin with as Daryl Janmatt showed when he walked straight past the stand-in Head Coach with no acknowledgement, following his own dismissal at the King Power stadium. John has shown he isn't fit for purpose in the role. It's time for a change. Newcastle need to do something or their current plight could become fatal. All they need to do is look down the road at Sunderland to see that making a change is a gamble worth taking. In the two seasons before this, the Black Cats have played this particular hand to perfection. It remains to be seen whether their third throw of the dice in as many years will pay off. They were in similar situations to Newcastle under the guidance of both Martin O'Neill and Paolo Di Canio, but made the change at the right time and saved their bacon. Newcastle fans will always throw the accusation that the powers that be at the Stadium of Light made the change a matter of weeks before a derby game just so the new manager, and that mystical honeymoon period they are all seemingly afforded, paid dividends and saw the red and whites come out on top. All Sunderland fans, on the other hand, will tell you that the changes were more than necessary and made at the right time. Looking at the fact they are still in the Premier League right now suggests the latter view is correct. Many will beg the question 'who is there to replace Carver?' It will have to be someone out of work with a track record of getting instant results by sticking a rocket up his players' backsides. With Harry Redknapp the standout name of those who are currently out of work, Newcastle don't have too many top class managers with proven track records to choose from. However, at this stage, seemingly anyone would be better than John Carver. Newcastle need to take a punt on someone more qualified for the role and they need to do it now. For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCultureNUFC on Twitter and Facebook.