Les Ferdinand fears for the future of Newcastle while the club remains divided and riddled with internal politics and ownership issues.
The former England striker was a hero to the Geordie fans during his spell at the club when Kevin Keegan launched his revolution of all-out attacking football that took Newcastle to the brink of the Premier League title.
Indeed, such was the array of talent at Keegan's disposal then that they were able to produce memorable results like the 5-0 thrashing of Manchester United at St James' Park in 1996.
But those days are gone - and Ferdinand believes it will be at least another four years before Newcastle will be in shape to break into the top four clubs that enjoy Champions League football.
"Yes, I do fear for them," said Ferdinand. "What they need is consistency and everyone needs to gel together. You are not seeing that at the moment.
"All these underlying things seem to be coming up. It is all over the place, rather than everyone on the same track and going in the same direction.
"They seem at times to be pulling against each other rather than pulling together. It's never going to work if that is the case. The owner Mike Ashley has to come out and say, 'These are our plans and this is what we want to do'.
"He was making those noises at the end of the season, but the fact is that the club are not buying the players we expected them to.
"Is what was sold to Kevin Keegan when he came back not being delivered? I think it's exactly that. There seems to have been a dulling of the mirror."
Ferdinand has seen at first hand how the natural enthusiasm of Keegan that accompanied his return last season was gradually eroded as the results failed to materialise.
"I was at his first game back, against Bolton," he recalled. "I was in the dressing room and he arrived a full two and a half hours before the kick-off.
"I was with him and Terry McDermott and we were reminiscing over old times. He was bubbly and bright.
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"It was like, 'This is our home'. Everything was like the Keegan of old. But over a period of weeks, you saw that drain out of him. It only came back when he got that first win, and that gave the club impetus.
"Then came the summer and you begin to think things are going to happen. But you start to hear rumours that he is not going to be able to buy the players he wants to buy."
Ferdinand, speaking at the launch of footballpools.com, added: "You hear that the owner is looking to sell. What Newcastle really need now is a long period of stability.
"You look at clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal and they have had that.
"The reason why Newcastle haven't been successful is because they haven't had the continuity.
There has always been something going on there.
"Since Kevin Keegan walked away the first time there has been a succession of managers who have been there for a year or two years and the club have got rid of them.
"Managers have to be given the time and the opportunity to do the job and then perhaps you will be successful in the end."
Ferdinand also feels that if Keegan walks away again, that will be the end of him in football management. "Everyone is going to make the assumption that Kevin will go if things aren't going well.
"If he walks away from Newcastle, he will walk away forever.
"But I don't think he will do that. I think he will stay."
Blackburn Rovers
