Toon need to learn to walk before they can run

Derek Llambias this week came out and said he and owner Mike Ashley expect Newcastle to compete for a European place every season.

Every fan dreams of European football and therefore should be pleased with Llambias' statement.

But such is the level of discontent and mistrust among Newcastle fans at the moment, every soundbite from the club is viewed with cynicism.

Is this a genuine goal, or is it just an attempt to sell more season tickets?

In truth, Europe should be far from their minds right now.

Newcastle are still in a relegation dogfight and the players and staff must be fully focused on that from here on in.

Talk of Europe can wait until the end of the season when, if Newcastle remain a Premier League team, the optimism can grow.

Stood on 36 points, they are far from safe and probably need two or three wins to secure their status.

If Europe is to be a realistic target, the £35m gained from the Andy Carroll sale must be reinvested in quality players over the summer.

A worthy number nine is badly needed to get fans back on side, and he should preferably be a big-name striker they can really latch onto.

The top players in the current squad - the likes of Cheik Tiote, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton and Fabricio Coloccini - must be retained to ensure Newcastle don't become a stepping stone club where players only have a shelf-life of one or two years.

The bottom line is that the club needs stability.

Ashley and Llambias should have stuck with Chris Hughton, who was doing a fine job on limited resources, had got the fans back on side and allowed the owner to keep a (relatively) low profile.

But Ashley invites bad press with his decision-making.

Cynics say every time things seem to be going well for Newcastle, Ashley makes a decision to destabilise everything and send the club back to square one.

Fans had just begun to digest Alan Pardew's appointment as Hughton's replacement when Ashley sold Andy Carroll.

The club claim Carroll demanded a new contract, but if the club really wanted to keep him, they surely could have stalled those talks until after the transfer window closed.

Other poor choices like stating their desire to rename St James' Park, publicly slate club legend Alan Shearer and almost grafitti the stadium with Sports Direct logos have antaganised fans and made them even more resentful of the current regime.

The fact fans have never heard Ashley's voice has also added to the anger.

The way he and Llambias left Alan Pardew to field all questions in his first press conference was cowardly.

The reasons behind decisions are never made public and there are just no attempts to communicate with fans.

They may claim football is a business but really it is all about the fans, and Newcastle's loyal supporters have been sidelined by the so-called 'Cockney Mafia'.

When Ashley first took over, the fans immediately warmed to him as he had finally led them out of the Freddy Shepherd era.

He sat in the crowds with his Newcastle shirt on and fans thought 'he's one of us'.

The then-chairman, Chris Mort, built up something of a rapport with fans and it seemed like the club actually had a set-up in place to take it forward.

But the whole handling of the Dennis Wise/Kevin Keegan situation, which culminated in the sale of James Milner and signings of Xisco and Nacho Gonzalez (which led to Keegan resigning) broke down the relationship and it has only got more sour since then.

Mort then left and Llambias took over his role, but his nickname, 'Silence of the Llambias', typifies what the fans think of him.

When the club do 'hear' from Llambias, in carefully-prepared press releases, the one constant which comes up is: Mike Ashley has saved and is continuing to save this club.

That may be the case, but the fact is Ashley has to do that to avoid losing money himself.

If Ashley sold Newcastle tomorrow the new owner would have to pay Ashley all of that money back, so he is not really saving the club, he's saving himself.

All fans really want is some sort of interaction with the owner. They want to know the reasons behind decisions.

In truth, some of the policies of the current regime have been successful.

Take the scouting and youth system.

Over the past year or two the club have brought in the likes of Cheik Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa under the radar and relatively cheaply.

The likes of Nile Ranger, Haris Vuckic, Shane Ferguson and Michael Richardson have been developed by the excellent academy and it seems the club is on a good footing in that department.

But these policies will not be appreciated by fans when they see their hallowed stadium re-named, star players sold and successful managers sacked.

The owner and managing director still do not have a clue about football and relations with fans and they need a football man alongside them to help them out, in the same way Sunderland have Niall Quinn.

The same old problems will arise time and time again unless they bring someone like that in to help.

Someone like a Robert Lee or Les Ferdinand, who the fans know and trust.

That would give a different dimension to the Newcastle boardroom and may lead fans to grow to accept the current regime.

Statements of intent are just not enough for Newcastle fans any more because they have heard it all before.

Until there is stability, there will be no trust.

And until there is stability, there will be no trips to Europe.