who's fault is it thet newcastle got relgated !!!!!!!!

And his disbelief at the collapse of standards at St James' Park - both on the pitch and off.

"The table doesn't lie, " said the local property developer who built Newcastle into a footballing power in the mid-90s.

He added: "It's been desperately poor all season - and the worst thing was they didn't even appear to try on Sunday.

"I'm not going to pull any punches. This current side is rubbish. Useless.

"There has to be a clean sweep and the club has to be rebuilt from top to bottom.

"I'm as baffled as anyone with the signings of players like Joey Barton.

"Then, again, Sam Allardyce said he could put him right.

"As for Michael Owen, he's had too many injuries and has never seemed to be on the ball.

"Now we are saddled with a huge wage bill. The lesson here is obvious: You can't take on yesterday's men and hope to survive. That's for a club that has no ambition. "

Ashington-born and from an old mining family, Hall saw Newcastle challenge Manchester United during the glory years of Kevin Keegan's first spell at the club.

But the dream faded and Hall sold his 41 per cent stake to Mike Ashley for £55million two years ago.

Now 76, he says the only way forward is to maintain faith in Alan Shearer, despite the stand-in boss winning just one game in eight.

Hall said: "Shearer must stay. Sure, he doesn't have the experience but then neither did Keegan the first time round. But, like Keegan, the fans have faith in him.

"He is a dedicated professional, the club is in his blood and he is the rallying point for all the supporters.

"But he has to have time and money. The question is: How much money is still there?

"If I was Shearer, I would want to see it on the table. "

Though Hall says he has no regrets about selling to Ashley, he admits the current owner was badly advised.

Hall said: "He has been let down by his own inexperience and the inexperience of others.

"There were also a series of extremely poor appointments stemming from the fact Mike inherited Sam Allardyce.

"And, no, I don't blame him for getting rid of Allardyce because the football was the worst we had ever seen.

"Then he listened to the fans and brought Keegan back. And that was a mistake.

"You can never re-tread footsteps in business. Life and circumstances change, the world and the game moves on. You have to have fresh blood.

"One mistake led to another with Dennis Wise and Joe Kinnear coming on board. Two terrible appointments. Wise was trying to do the job from London and that was ridiculous.

Advertisement

"You have to be up here, getting to know the people and their feelings for the club.

"There was obviously bad blood between Keegan and Wise which I'm told went back to their England days. It was like a red rag to a bull.

"As for Kinnear, you have to have people who are active in the game.

"Now it's all gone wrong and Mike has to decide whether to stay or sell up - and, believe me, there are always people around who want to buy clubs like Newcastle.

"If he stays he has to inject new funds. Not once but twice.

"First, to build a new team to fight their way out of the Championship, then to stay up.

"I know from my experience with Kevin that you have to have real battlers to get back into the Premier League.

"On top of that, it's obvious they are going to struggle to attract the top quality players.

"But I don't go along with the feeling Newcastle could become another Leeds or Nottingham Forest and end up in League One.

"We're too strong for that. Yes, there's a huge wage bill and that has to be trimmed. And there must be no uncertainty in the close season. The club has to get on with it. "

And what of his own role in the demise of a club that, with average gates of 48, 000, was the third best-supported in the Premier League?

Hall said: "Yes, I sold the club to Mike, and, to many, it might appear to have been the wrong move. But it seemed the right thing to do.

"He was the answer to people like Roman Abramovich.

"I didn't go down this road lightly. But what were the alternatives? "