However ... Newcastle defender Daryl Janmaat is refusing to write off the club's season.
The Magpies slipped into the bottom half of the Barclays Premier League table as a result of Saturday's 2-1 home defeat to Southampton, their seventh in nine games in all competitions.
The club's ongoing search for a head coach following Alan Pardew's departure for Crystal Palace earlier this month has created further uncertainty.
However, 25-year-old Janmaat, who along with his team-mates is currently on a warm weather training camp in Dubai, is confident the impending return from injury of the likes of Siem de Jong, Rolando Aarons and Gabriel Obertan can help to rekindle the campaign.
Daryl Janmaat: "We have to try to reach as high as possible. For certain, we are looking to finish in the top half of the table. That's our main aim now.
"We have Siem to come back and other good players. It's nice to know. They can make us stronger."