NEWCASTLE is one of those places that has a religious fervour about its football. When I played up there 30 years ago, if you sneezed it was headline news - and not much has changed now.

That's why it's a good time for Blackburn to be going there on Saturday. The pressure to do well is tremendous, so when the team isn't, it gets even worse.

The problem they've got is they believe they are a massive club and should be winning things - but an even bigger problem is the fact that they're not geared up for it.

Many good managers have tried and failed at Newcastle so if they were set up for success they would surely have had it by now.

They've got to finals and been the bridesmaids, but the fans are desperate for more than this after not winning anything for almost 40 years.

It's no wonder the that Graeme Souness is treading on such thin ice as he prepares to take on the club he left for the north east 18 months ago.

Souey's undoubtedly had bad luck with injuries and has been robbed of Michael Owen for most of the season.

But you can't reel this line out to directors and supporters. They won't accept it, especially when they've been waiting as long as they have at Newcastle.

They want success, not excuses.

The real reason I think Graeme could be in trouble is similar to the problems he had at Ewood just before he left.

There's no doubt he is a man of great passion, which is what all Geordies want, and he knows how to motivate players.

But I feel the same as I did when he was at Blackburn, that his teams just aren't organised enough.

And when you look at how well drilled Mark Hughes has made Rovers since taking over from Souness, it rams home this point even more.

Obviously, Hughes won't be worried about proving any points like this on Saturday, he will just want his team to be as disciplined and play as well as they have been doing in the past few weeks.

If they do, they should be able to keep the St James' Park roar to a meek whisper and this will be the key.

Because whether they're doing well or not, the fantastic crowd noise the Newcastle fans generate can sometimes be worth a goal to their side.

Keep them quiet and it's half the battle won.