Twenty-four hours on from in-depth discussions between Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and Alan Shearer, there was no news from St James' Park yesterday, a vacuum that may well be disturbing Shearer, especially as Keith Harris was in Newcastle on Tuesday. Harris is the investment banker commissioned by Ashley to sell Newcastle last September and his presence in the city was almost certainly related to the club and a possible takeover. Harris did not stay long – he was in Rome last night for the Champions League final – but it meant another question mark has arisen over Ashley's intentions.

Newcastle United's fortunes had been fading for a long time before they finally suffered relegation from the Premiership yesterday. It doesn't mean they are not still a great club; the legend of Jackie Milburn, Kevin Keegan and others remains intact. But history counts for nothing if you can't get the management right, still less the ownership, and that has been Newcastle's problem for a good while now.

Another football season comes to an end this weekend with Manchester United supreme and a desperate fight taking place to avoid the drop: if Alan Shearer keeps Newcastle up, his achievement will be greeted by Geordies with as much joy as half of Manchester has experienced.

Four times League Champions, six times FA Cup winners and even champions in Europe in 1969. The problem is that Fairs Cup success, almost 40 years ago to the day, was the last time the club won anything of note.

Newcastle United have lodged an appeal against the red card given to Sebastien Bassong, during Saturday's 1-0 defeat at home to Fulham.

"You are not going to take the piss out of this football club and you are not going to take the piss out of this city." With these words Alan Shearer addressed a small gathering of malingering Newcastle United players one morning last week at the club's Benton training ground.

Newcastle United have suspended midfielder Joey Barton until further notice, the Premier League club said today.

With more than 200 goals, Alan Shearer never had a problem finding the net for hometown club Newcastle. As its manager he has so far been unable to capture a victory, and two draws from his first four games in charge is adding up to relegation form.

Alan Shearer and Mark Viduka could be said to occupy the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to Newcastle United centre forwards. But the Australian, who has not started a game all season and who has featured for only 22 minutes this year, has been included in Shearer's squad for the game at Tottenham Hotspur tomorrow and is the subject of a splurge of praise from the new Newcastle temporary manager.

At the peak of his ruthless rise as a sports shirt salesman sweeping past his first billion-pound milestone, Mike Ashley was said to be in the habit of parking his tanks on the lawns of anyone who might be considering standing in his way. For the sake of his shot-through credibility as a serious presence in football, however, he should perhaps now be checking what is left of his armoury.

England are set to play Scotland next season for the first time in 11 years, under plans to be discussed this week. Officials of the Football Association and Scottish FA will hold talks about the fixture at the International Football Association Board summit in Northern Ireland next Friday and Saturday.