But Kevin Keegan says the Toon striker is as sharp as ever.Keegan: "Just as easily as we are talking about that being just his third goal in nine games since I have been here, we could be talking about a goal a game if he had stuck those chances in.
"Michael is very sharp, and if you ever needed evidence of how sharp he is, you just had to see how, out of the goalkeeper and the three players at Birmingham, he made up the ground. He was lightning quick there.
"In one little cameo there, he showed just how sharp he is.
"We have to build on the performance at Birmingham and let's see if we can start getting this club back to winning ways because once you start to win games, it is contagious.
"When you lose games, as we have found, that can be contagious as well."