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You name it and it went wrong for Newcastle last season. The owner Mike Ashley put in place a managerial structure that saw Dennis Wise buying players the manager didn't want and a manager in Kevin Keegan who wanted the club to sign the likes of Lampard and Thierry Henry.

It was a bit of a circus from the start but they made a decent start drawing at Old Trafford on the opening day followed by a win against Bolton had the Toon fans dreaming of a good year under Keegan.

It quickly went wrong though after a 3-0 hiding at Arsenal more players were brought in over Keegan's head and he decided enough was enough and walked away. It was a move the club didn't recover from, they lost four in a row in September under caretaker boss Chris Hughton and the announcement that the club was up for sale brought a mixed response from the Newcastle fans.

An interim manager came in with Joe Kinnear taking over and after the football world had stopped laughing Kinnear proved to do a decent job drawing his first two games before defeat at Sunderland. He then won two in a row before a series of draws including one at Chelsea.

After beating Spurs and Portsmouth the side looked to have moved away from danger as they sat in twelfth place bit a poor run over Christmas saw them fall back into trouble.

A heart attack for Joe Kinnear on the morning of a win against West Brom saw another spell in charge for caretaker Chris Hughton and the results continued to suffer as they slipped alarmingly down the table. Despite having Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins they rarely even looked like scoring.

On April the 1st they sent for another messiah as Alan Shearer took charge but he failed to make much of an impact with an under achieving side who either lacked confidence, ability and most of all passion.

A win over Middlesbrough gave them hope but limp defeats to Fulham and Aston Villa proved to be the end for them and they were no longer a Premiership club.

Newcastle seem to be the bookies and pundits favourites to make an immediate return to the Premiership. I do wonder how they have come to that conclusion as Newcastle still look a side in a complete mess.

They still have no manager and with the club up for sale they have yet to bring any new players in. Their squad has a massive wage bill that will become a hell of a burden for the club should it not be sold soon with the problems that followed Leeds United after relegation an all too real possibility for Newcastle.

They have sold Martins and lost Owen this summer and I doubt they will be the only players to leave with several looking for a way out.

Their squad on paper of course still looks good. They have a decent keeper and in Taylor and Bassong two very good defenders. Kevin Nolan and Danny Guthire are quality midfield players whilst Guiterrez, Damien Duff and Alan Smith all have bags of ability that should be too much for most Championship sides.

Up front they have the promising Andy Carroll whilst Joey Barton will also return and could do well at this level. As I say on paper t looks good but they showed last season they are a side that lacks heart and a pre season 6-1 defeat at Orient doesn't bode well for them.

I don't think they will struggle but I'd be very surprised if they managed to gain promotion at the first time of asking and they look to me a side that needs a hell of a lot of work and complete rebuilding job to get them back to the top level.

I think they'll miss out on the playoffs although a change of owner and a new manager appointed could change all that.

PREDICTION: 7th in the Championship

I asked Newcastle fans on an unofficial message board for their thoughts on the new season and here is what they had to say.

How do you think Newcastle will fare this season?

Hopefully start to turn things around but it's all up in the air at the moment, no manager, no new owners and no new players, we look like doing a Leeds but hopefully we'll be strong and make the playoffs.

Who are your players to watch out for?

Depends who stays, Andy Carroll is promising, if Bassong stays he'll be the best defender in the Championship.

Is your Manager the right man for the job?

What manager? I'm not sure about Shearer getting the job, he didn't seem to have a clue last season.

Which three teams will be promoted this season?

West Brom, Sheffield United and us at Wembley in the playoffs.

Which teams will be relegated?

Blackpool, Doncaster and Scunthorpe

How do you think QPR will fare this season?

Playoffs

QPR and Newcastle have shared a few players over the years with one of our best ever moving to St James Park in 1995.

Les Ferdinand spent eight years at QPR scoring 89 goals and will go down as one of the best forwards we ever had. Ferdinand twice scored twenty goals in a season for Rangers including three against his future employers.

He joined Newcastle for £6million in 1995 and the two clubs fortunes quickly changes.

Rangers were relegated after struggling without Ferdinand's goals whilst his goals for Newcastle took them within a whisker of winning the Premiership with only a Cantona inspired Man Utd piping them to the title on the final day of the season.

He won the PFA Players Player of the year in his first year at Newcastle.

Ferdinand spent two years at St James Park and is still highly regarded by the Geordie faithful.

The two Peacock's played for both sides as well. Gavin Peacock began and ended his career at Loftus Road and the midfielder spent one year at St James Park scoring plenty of goals from midfield and helping them to promotion to the Premiership under Kevin Keegan.

Darren Peacock had three years at QPR and was an excellent defender for us and joined Newcastle for £2.75million in March 1994 and he spent several successful years at St James Park.

Rangers have not faced Newcastle since 1996 when we were relegated from the premiership.

That season Newcastle did the double over Rangers with Les Ferdinand scoring against QPR in a 3-2 win at Loftus Road. Danny Dichio scored twice for QPR that day in a game we shouldn't have lost.

The return game at St James Park was just as close with ian Holloway giving QPR the lead but two late goals by Peter Beardsley have Newcastle the win.

Rangers last win against Newcastle came in the 1994/95 season when we beat them 3-0 at Loftus Road with Les Ferdinand scoring twice for QPR.