Former Sunderland midfielder Don Hutchison feels manager Alan Pardew is a "dead man walking".
Hutchison wrote in the Evening Chronicle: "Alan Pardew is now a dead man walking at Newcastle United.
"The only thing keeping him in his job is Mike Ashley's attitude to the club. There is a lack of leadership that comes right from the top and I'm not convinced the owner cares enough to act to stop this slide - and that is saving Alan from going the same way that Chris Hughton went at Norwich this weekend.
"The problem at Newcastle is that the decisions taken right at the top are coming home to roost. I don't know whether there is anyone at the club who is brave enough to stand up to Mike Ashley and question what he is doing, but it is time for someone to do that or the club is going to go one way."
