Niall Quinn

And for once, I think the fans had stopped blaming the owner for a little while because he had put a lot of money in in the summer, you know, and it looked set for McLaren to go and kick this club on and bring it to another place.

But unfortunately, where he brought it to was so far down that even Rafa couldn't come in.

But yeah, you're right.

He didn't have enough time.

And, you know, Sam was in after eight games.

And that gave him a chance to assess before he made decisions in the window and to bring spirit in.

Rafa brought something very quickly and there's no doubt about that.

But it just got to a point where his impact was never really going to be enough.

Got close.

But yeah, had he been in six weeks, eight weeks earlier, then who knows?

How do you view it, Niall?

Is that a good point for Newcastle?

It's a fantastic point for Newcastle.

It keeps the momentum going, sends a message out that they're on the up and up.

And I know Norwich and Sunderland will look at that and will feel uneasy that they did so well here today.

And that has to be carried on into away performances now.

They've been very poor at times, even under Rafa away from home.

So if they can carry this on and move it on, they'll look back to these last two results and they will have been pivotal.

I think, to get them in with a shout of staying up.

And it might just be the catalyst for them to go on.