Manchester United striker Michael Owen admits he never was able to settle at Newcastle.
The club of Jackie Milburn, Malcolm MacDonald, Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer needs its forwards to be heroes. That naked desire is why so many turned out to welcome Owen's arrival from Real Madrid four years ago.
That a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered at the 2006 World Cup with England kept him out for a year only made matters worse.
"It was Newcastle and it was me, so maybe it was worse," he said.
"If another player had flown home to see their family it would not have been such news.
"They had paid a record fee for me and I broke my foot trying to score goals for them. But when I was out for another year playing for England it hindered me.
"Probably if I had done my knee playing for Newcastle, there may have been more support.
"I was on the back foot straight away and reversing it was difficult."