Is Roeder The Man To Bring Success?
The United squad is simply not strong enough or good enough. And on the evidence of what I had seen - too many players were lacking in bottle and fighting spirit.
Unfortunately, United must not have agreed because there were no additions to the squad in the January window apart from on- loan defender Oguchi Onyewu, who will join fellow central defenders Titus Bramble and Craig Moore out of the exit door at the end of the season.
But make no mistake about it - Freddy Shepherd is well aware of the consequences if United do not bring in some quality players - and players with fire in their bellies - in the close season.
The one positive thing about those defeats is that Glenn Roeder and Nigel Pearson learned a lot about some of their players - that they do not know what it means to wear the black-and-white shirt.
There is talk in the city of American interest in United - but unless it materialises, there is no way Shepherd can compete with the top four of Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool, and Arsenal, three of whom just happened to have been taken over.
Glenn Roeder is the first United manager not to have had money thrown at him by Shepherd, and if the chairman truly believes that the former skipper is the right man for the job, even though some fans remain unconvinced, then he owes it to him to change all this in the next couple of months.
It's been a crying shame that Steven Taylor has had to carry so much responsibility this season when I feel that, with a more experienced central defender alongside him, he could go on to great things.
Roeder knows that he will never have the support of some fans because he is not a big name, and he was behind in the pecking order to Martin O'Neill and Alan Curbishley who have not exactly pulled up many trees at Aston Villa and West Ham respectively.
At the same time, Shepherd is aware that some fans would like to see him sell up to a major investor.
Shepherd has always insisted he would make way for a Geordie Roman Abramovich, but he cannot sell until there is an offer, which he has never had.
So, like it or not, Shepherd will be chairman of Newcastle United next season and Roeder will be his manager.
Statistically, on wins per game, only Keegan has a better record than Roeder when you look at every manager United have had. And that is even though Roeder is the first United manager since Ossie Ardiles to be without the greatest scorer in the history of the Premiership and the greatest player in United's history since Shearer hung up his boots.
Roeder knows what is needed at St James' Park and he has a fair enough team behind him in England Under-21 coach Nigel Pearson, Geordie boy Lee Clark and Terry McDermott who, despite his Liverpool connection, is fully committed to his adopted club.
Lee Ryder
Discontent is a word that nobody likes to hear in football - but there is plenty of it around. And, sadly for Newcastle United and their loyal fans, there is plenty of it around here.
There are also those who realise Roeder hasn't had anywhere near the same amount of funds to spend as his predecessors. In total he's spent £15m - a drop in the ocean compared to the multi-millions lavished by others.
Despite that, he guided the club to Europe and, through no fault of his own, saw the worst injury crisis in the club's history rip into a season when he was looking to better last year's seventh-place finish.
Beneath first-team level, the future of the club appears in good hands.
Hours and hours of work goes in at the Academy overseen by Joe Joyce and Kenny Wharton, a pair determined to provide future first-team stars.
After that, Lee Clark is there to nurture the club's kids - and you cannot say it hasn't worked in recent years with the likes of Steven Taylor, Shola Ameobi and Peter Ramage all coming in to take their chance.
They may not be world-beaters, but with the exception of Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and a certain Michael Owen in the Premiership, few can claim to be world-class.
This season was always going to be hard without Alan Shearer - and even harder when Michael Owen's injury wiped out his campaign, and effectively United's as well.
Aiming for the top six, like Everton or Bolton, appears to be the route to take in the hope you then build for better days ahead in the form of the golden top four. Because the truth is, if you want to be one of the Premiership's top four these days, you have to pay for that privilege.
Champions League football comes at a price - and right now, in terms of finances, United aren't at the races.
But by the end of the season Owen could be back on his feet, an InterToto route could be in the bag, and a summer of spending about to unfold. And looking ahead to next term, with a fully-fit Owen, players to provide bullets at one end, and defenders to avoid them at the other, they may harbour top-six ambitions.
But it appears that might not be good enough to satisfy some Newcastle United fans.
John Gibson
Newcastle United have more often than not performed without backbone or shame this season when forced to leave home to defend their honour.
Think not only of last Saturday at Portsmouth but at Charlton, Alkmaar, Wigan, and Fulham as well since the beginning of February. A string of defeats as shoddy as a tramp's overcoat.
Glenn Roeder's rallying call - "I want battlers not bottlers" - sounded magnificent, but hardly had the Churchillian effect did it?
Quite frankly, it fell on deaf ears totally unwilling to listen to the obvious.
The Geordies will forgive a lot but not quitters. There is no greater sin in the Toon bible.
Injuries have NOT been the main reason for United's failures this season, Michael Owen apart. The Magpies have often done better with kids in the ranks than when playing established first-teamers, as recent results have underlined.
No, injuries have conveniently camouflaged the real problems which run much deeper than that - too many of the so-called big names aren't as good as they think they are; the collective spirit and desire is threadbare as repeatedly emphasised when playing away; the squad is lopsided lacking men of genuine play-making flair; and the back four is as open as a barn door.
How on earth did we allow it to get like that?
How much pre-planning, for example, went into last summer when, apart from buying a £10m striker to replace the retired Alan Shearer, £5m was spent on a left-winger which was hardly a priority position, and Antoine Sibierski and Olivier Bernard were rushed through the door in a blind panic on the final day of buying.
Just as Albert Luque had at £9m the year before.
Oh, lest we forget, there was also the bewildering case of James Milner, who was told he was surplus to requirements and banished to Aston Villa, only to be embarrassingly recalled at the 11th hour when efforts to sign Mark Viduka spectacularly failed.
The Chronicle has over the last couple of days carried my exclusive interview with Kevin Keegan which highlighted the sort of signings United made only a decade or so ago. Ginola, Beardsley, Ferdinand, Shearer, Andy Cole, Lee, Asprilla, Albert.
Ah. The warm, warm memories.
What would we give right now for a couple of them in their pomp!
Yes, Chelsea have an obscene amount of Roman's rubles and Newcastle have not, but comparisons with other clubs are still to our detriment and how do we explain away that?
Make no mistake about it. Roeder the motivator and every single one of his players is on trial as far as the fans are concerned over the last four games of this sorry season. Meaningless matches?
Hardly. These little set-to's might well decide who is here next season and who is not.