Fanzine editor Mark Jensen believes Joe Kinnear's return to Newcastle as Director of Football could be the beginning of the end for boss Alan Pardew's reign on Tyneside. Jensen, editor of fanzine website www.themag.co.uk, said:"A lot of people are assuming because of the Kinnear thing yesterday that Alan Pardew is now in the position that Chris Hughton was in the summer before he was removed, that they (Newcastle) have decided they don't want him anymore and will look for the first opportunity to get rid of him.

"The one thing you can say about Newcastle, as always, is things are never boring in terms of things to write or talk about.

"Unfortunately, it's a massive negative story and most fans think it makes the club look like a laughing stock again."

Kinnear's impending return to the club he managed briefly during the ill-fated 2008-09 season, which ended in relegation, has seen the focus shift from Alan Pardew's difficulties last season.

Jensen said: "It's like the old joke: if you have broken your leg and you then cut your finger, it makes you forget about the broken leg.

"It's the context in which things happen. We have a manager who won the manager of the year award 12 months ago who then had a really poor season and he must accept at least a good part of the blame for that - although Joe Kinnear still doesn't accept any blame at all for Newcastle's relegation when he had been manager at the club for most of the games that season.

"Alan Pardew went down in the estimation of a lot of fans last season and there were plenty who wanted the club to get rid of him.

"But there were those who were prepared to see what happens this summer and how we start the season and give him the chance to prove which manager he is, the one who finished fifth or the one who nearly got Newcastle relegated."