DAILY MAIL: Vitriol among the away-day hardcore, indifference among the home masses – now that's never a kind combination.
But, for Newcastle United, Alan Pardew and the Toon Army, that is the reality right now.
On the road, unrest is concentrated, the upshot being the venom we saw hissed towards the manager during last weekend's defeat at Stoke.
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew claims he would have prevented Swansea winner had he been on touchline.
Pardew believes 'more than half' of Toon fans at St James' Park want him out.
On Saturday, back at St James' Park, hostility made way for weariness.
For 50,000 Geordies are resigned to the soulless state their club finds itself in; an absent owner, a beleaguered boss cutting an increasingly forlorn figure and players who aren't doing it for the shirt or even themselves.
The 2-1 loss to Swansea was their fifth on the bounce in the Premier League, a new club record.
Swansea's winner, in injury-time, triggered a barely audible 'We want Pardew out', for half of the stadium had already made for the exits.
And even if 50,000 voices were united in howling their disapproval, would it make any difference? Mike Ashley has never cared for the opinion of the Tyneside populous, now he simply chooses not to subject himself to it.
For sightings of the club owner – just like home goals – are a rare occurrence at Gallowgate.
Long gone is the time when he viewed his investment as part business venture, part pastime. It's 100 per cent business these days and, to that end, top-flight renewal and the subsequent financial gain is very much mission accomplished.
There have been worse teams and worse managers, but always the promise of a better day.
Now, there is a sorry realisation that better days are a thing of bar-room reminisce.
Supporters could, of course, vote with their feet. Saturday's crowd of 51,057 was the biggest in the land – hardly a stay-away stance, is it?
But in the North East that's the way it is and, no matter how hard they grumble or how passionately they protest, they will still file through the gates of Gallowgate en masse.
For that season-ticket is more than 19 football matches. It is 19 days away from the missus, 19 excuses to hit the pub early and stay out late, all the while bemoaning the owner, manager and players whose pockets they are lining. Ashley knows this. He is a very successful businessman, after all.
So what can we expect next season? Well, Pardew will be manager, Ashley will be owner, the aim to survive and reap the financial rewards. And 50,000 Geordies will turn up every week.