NEWCASTLE'S supporters were faced with a difficult dilemma when the final whistle blew at Bolton's Reebok Stadium on Wednesday night - they didn't know who they wanted out of the club first.

With the Magpies having slumped to their second defeat of the embryonic season, and having failed to find the net for the third game in a row into the bargain, half of the travelling support vented their fury at chairman Freddy Shepherd while the remainder directed their ire at manager Graeme Souness. Neither is secure following this most volatile of starts to the season.

But, last night, Alan Shearer sought to protect his superiors by providing the fans with a new set of bad guys to berate.

Displaying an honesty that has been in short supply amidst the recent comings and goings at St James' Park - or not comings and goings as it should perhaps be termed - the former England international turned the focus firmly on himself and his under-performing team-mates.

With alarm bells already ringing given Newcastle's place in the bottom three, the Magpies skipper insisted it was time the club's players woke up to the reality of the situation they find themselves in.

"We cannot go around blaming it on anyone and everyone else," said Shearer, "We are the ones that have to do it. We have to look at our performances and ask ourselves if we are doing enough.

"We know as players when we have not performed, and the second half in particular was not good enough for a club of this size and stature.

"The players have to look at themselves because we are the ones that have got to put it right. No-one else is going to do it for us."

While Newcastle finally made a breakthrough off the field with the capture of Albert Luque last night, the club's strikers are finding success on the field rather harder to come by.

After creating next to nothing against the ten men of West Ham on Saturday - after Lee Bowyer's first half effort - Newcastle did not register another shot on target on Wednesday night until ten minutes from time.

At the final whistle, Newcastle had failed to score in their first three league games for the first time in their 113-year history.

As if that were not bad enough, a quick glance at the fixture list suggests the Magpies' fortunes could be about to get even worse. This weekend's visitors to Tyneside are Manchester United, who have scored 11 goals in their last three trips to St James' Park.

"We have to make sure this poor run does not develop into something worse," admitted Shearer. "We have to start our season all over again now.

"We have got Manchester United coming up on Sunday which will be tough, but we have beaten them in the past and we have to do all we can to do it again.

"We just weren't good enough (on Wednesday). The fans were fantastic - they should not have to watch that.

"We know that and we will do all we can to put it right - I can promise them that."

* Newcastle scouts were in France last weekend to watch Lens striker Olivier Thomert. The 25-year-old left-sided striker impressed as he scored twice in his side's 7-0 win.

Meanwhile, Jean-Alain Boumsong has been named in the French squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and the Republic of Ireland.

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