Alan Smith (talking to the Daily Mirror): "The hardest thing at the start of the season was knowing which players wanted to stay. We came back in the summer and no-one knew what was going on in terms of could players be sold.
"Certain players were making it clear they wanted to leave but the club said no-one was going to be sold. That was the most difficult time.
"We went to Leyton Orient and it was a disaster. But everything came to a head. It was clear that five or six of the players wanted to leave, which was fair enough. We had a meeting when we came back from the game - just us players.
"We said whoever wants to leave, they can leave, and we'll help them to go. Whoever wants to stay then commit yourself to stay. That's where we are now. That was a massive turning point.
"In a way getting that bad result was the best thing that could have happened. It was what needed to happen.
"It was one of the strangest things ever. We were managing ourselves. Chris knew that we were having that meeting and he stood back and let us sort things out.
"There was never a chance that I would be one of the ones asking to go. I needed to play regular football. That's what I've missed for the last three seasons.
"You just want to play. I was 29 on Wednesday so I can't afford to miss any more games. I never feel any twinge of regret. I wanted to stay.
"The Championship is more muck and nettles. It's Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.
"You go to grounds where as a kid I used to watch football. The Premier League is this massive worldwide thing, it's unbelievable. But this division has something special as well."
ORIENT 6 NEWCASTLE UTD 1 (Barton pen)
Krul (Forster, 46); Beye (Tozer, 80), S Taylor (Lough, 80), Coloccini (Geremi, 46), Enrique (Kadar, 73); Gutierrez, Barton (Xisco, 46), Smith (Guthrie, 60), Duff (LuaLua, 73); Nolan; Martins (Carroll, 46).
Newcastle endured a miserable afternoon at Brisbane Road as they were thumped 6-1 by League One side Leyton Orient.
The Os opened the scoring after four minutes when a Sean Thornton free-kick was headed home by the unmarked Jimmy Smith.
It was 2-0 in the 23rd minute when the hosts were awarded a penalty. Habib Beye was adjudged to have handled in the area under pressure from Adrian Patulea and Thornton slammed home from the penalty spot.
Newcastle got a penalty of their own on the half-hour when Obafemi Martins was bundled over and Joey Barton stepped up to score.
However, it was the hosts who extended their lead after 53 minutes when Scott McGleish produced a stunning overhead kick to beat substitute goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
McGleish turned provider two minutes later as he cushioned a Jason Demetriou corner into the path of Tamika Mkandawire and he fired home.
The Magpies' disastrous afternoon continued with seven minutes remaining as Ryan Jarvis made it five with a neat side-footed finish and it was six three minutes later when Harry Baker coolly slotted home after good work by Loick Pires.