85 days have passed since we saw our top scorer put the ball in the back of the net. Is that OK? I certainly don’t think so. We have only lost 3 games since this, so maybe his poor form has been hidden by the great performances shown by the team. Now as we enter the last 3 games which will shape our summer and next season, we need to start with the strongest side available. At the moment I don’t think Demba Ba is part of this!

Position Change

Many people have hinted his lack of goals is due to playing wide. I don’t think this has as big an effect as those people claim. We see him drift inside very often, sometimes we even see Papiss Cisse come wide. The fluidity of those two certainly keeps the opposition on their toes and they both have had lots of opportunities since returning from the African Cup of Nations. The difference of the two is that Cisse has taken his.

What has happened to our clubs leading man. Many reasons are being thrown around to explain the drop in form but are they correct.

Seven matches have passed since Demba Ba last found the back of the net for Newcastle. The clubs leading scorer has played every minute since his return from international duty but has had to watch his Senegalese team mate Papiss Cisse steal the plaudits.

To add to his troubles, Demba had a penalty saved that may have given the Magpies all 3 points against their fierce rivals Sunderland. Even still, the fans have no reason to criticise one of their favourites as his work rate and general play have still been a feature of a return to good form for the club.

Out of Form

Of course it is quite possible that Demba Ba is just having a bad run of games. Since moving to England, the former West Ham man has been consistently scoring and is due a dip. An impressive return of 23 goals in 39 appearances, with 16 of those for the Toon, means you can have nothing but praise for a man who cost the club nothing in terms of transfer fees.

Many people say we are very lucky to have Mike Ashley in charge of our football club. We have no worries of going into economic troubles with him as our owner. Some media outfits also think with our current standing he has done a good job.

Mike Ashley has done some controversial things but running a football club is a hard job, we are all clueless when it comes to it! Most of us wouldn't know what to do, myself included. It is completely different to the “very realistic” Football Manager game where you can complete negotiations in a matter of seconds.

We wouldn't tell a surgeon what to do because we don't know anything about dealing with diseases so why would we tell club owner how to lead a football club as we have no idea how to do it successfully.

Since Mike Ashley's arrival on Tyneside, there has been a very obvious shift in policy at the club, from big name, big money signings like Michael Owen to more well-thought out, better scouted transfers like Cheick Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Davide Santon - players who are essentially investments for the club.

It's clear that, despite a few controversial moves along the way, Ashley's approach is paying dividends, with United's younger squad performing well on the pitch so far.

This 'younger, cheaper, better' mantra has not only served Newcastle well on the pitch, but also at a financial level. Relegation to the Championship struck a blow to the club's bank books, and Ashley has since attempted redress the balance by bumping high-paid, elder stars like Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton off the wage bill.

Ironically this, only serves to further re-enforce the value of Fabricio Coloccini to United as a player, with news that the Argentine international could sign a five year deal in the coming weeks, keeping him at the club until he is 35.

However, criticisms levied at the club in some quarters stem from the fact that while this approach is working in the short term on the pitch, Ashley is merely turning Newcastle United into a business vehicle – a club that is simply there to turn a profit through the sale of players.