'I watched Aston Villa, it could be worse,' quipped Newcastle legend Rob Lee, looking for a silver lining after his former side were thumped 5-1 by Chelsea on Saturday.
The Magpies continue to languish in the Premier League's drop zone and found themselves three goals down after just 17 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with Fabricio Coloccini in particular, singled out by fans and pundits for another lacklustre display.
And Lee, who made over 300 appearances for the club, was frank in his assessment of the Argentinian and feels the defender has never been a real leader.
Newcastle legend Rob Lee was the captain of Kevin Keegan's famed 'Entertainers' side of the 1990s
He said: 'Just because he [Coloccini] is captain doesn't make him a leader, as far as I'm aware and seen, he's not a leader and never has been.
'I think there's different types of leaders, I played for many. Tony Adams was a shouter, so was Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley who led by example, and they would shout out at anybody.
'I've said for a while that Newcastle lack leaders and it's been a problem for quite some time.
'Leaders, even if they're not playing well, dig out other people and encourage others but we don't have any of those.
'We hope that maybe [Jonjo] Shelvey can do that but it's a long term thing. We need all the players to go out and give 100 per cent but in some games we're just not getting that.'