Club legend Alan Shearer has delivered his verdict on Newcastle's civil war after Eddie Howe's side were beaten 3-1 by Fulham on Saturday.
The Magpies slipped to their first defeat of the season after falling behind to goals from Raul Jimenez and Emile Smith Rowe in the first half. They threatened a comeback when Harvey Barnes halved the deficit just after half time, but Reiss Nelson wrapped up a deserved win for Fulham in stoppage time.
The loss comes amid tension behind the scenes at St James' Park after sporting director Paul Mitchell criticised the club's transfer strategy, before Howe defended Newcastle's recruitment in recent windows.
Shearer believes the dispute between Howe and Mitchell is leading to issues on the pitch, and feels Saturday's setback had been coming for a while.
'What’s going on off the pitch [is an issue],' Shearer said on The Rest is Football podcast. 'We’ve said it before about the sporting director and Eddie.
Newcastle sporting director Paul Mitchell (pictured) recently hit out at the club's transfer strategy
'Unless that gets sorted out somehow, it will affect performances on the pitch... it always does. Whatever happens off the pitch in terms of the boardroom or whatever, it eventually comes down and that needs to be sorted out.'
Reflecting on the loss to Fulham, Shearer added: 'They were rotten for the first half, they were dreadful. I know they’ve had the results, three wins and a draw before [Saturday's] game, but it was a bit of a reality check.
'They hadn’t played well, really all season. They were getting through games and we were saying about their team spirit. That has be a good sign, once they start playing well then things will click.
'They didn’t deserve anything [against Fulham] and were really poor. They changed it up second half and there was a little bit of an improvement, but Fulham were miles better and deserved to beat Newcastle.'
Despite failing to find their best form, Newcastle have still earned 10 points from their opening five games to leave themselves in sixth place.
But staying in the European places over the coming weeks looks set to be a difficult task, with Howe's men due to face Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in their next five league fixtures.
Newcastle were due to return to action tonight against AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup tonight, but the game was postponed due to severe flooding at the League Two club's stadium.
The match has now been switched to St James' Park and will take place next Tuesday, giving Newcastle a full week to prepare for their showdown with Pep Guardiola's City on Saturday.