“Shearer, Shearer.” It is the chant that chills the spine of every Newcastle United manager, especially when it is emanating from the away end that contains Mike Ashley, the club’s owner, and Sam Allardyce can hear it loud and clear as his team’s latest miserable performance enabled Wigan Athletic to move out of the bottom three for the first time in two months.

The depressing 2-2 draw on Sunday at home to Derby County, whose only victory so far this season ironically came against Newcastle at Pride Park, only served to cloud the theory that Allardyce had won over his doubters on Tyneside. This defeat made it crystal clear that he has not.

The Newcastle supporters are notoriously difficult to please. Their baseless belief that the club ought to be mixing it with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal at the top of the Premier League hardly helps Allardyce and his many recent predecessors, nor does the demand for the champagne football that Kevin Keegan once brought to St James’ Park.

Keegan’s tactics were, of course, fatally flawed in that his team could not defend. But whenever a new manager has marched into “Toon”, be it Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit or Allardyce, the first whiff of defensive tactics has sent the locals into a frenzy. Loyal and passionate the Newcastle supporters may be, but chanting “Attack, Attack, Attack” after only 28 minutes of any game suggests that they are somewhat shortsighted as well.

Allardyce knew what he was letting himself in for, however, when he traded his comfort zone at Bolton Wanderers for the near impossible job at Newcastle. He may have talked about needing five years to turn the club around, which could well be true, but the occupant of the St James’ Park manager’s office in 2012 will not be Allardyce unless he has delivered at least one trophy in the next two years. He probably will not be given that long.

Five of the Newcastle players who started this game were signed by Allardyce, but, with the exception of Mark Viduka, none of them looked remotely capable of lifting the club beyond their current level of mediocrity.

Alan Smith, a player who cannot tackle and stay upright at the same time, was deployed as a deeplying holding midfield player while Nicky Butt sat unused on the bench and Charles N’Zogbia, the attacking midfield player, was once again asked to play at left back. To make matters worse, Gérémi and Abdoulaye Faye were content to hoof the ball forward, often to nobody in particular, whenever they had it at their feet.

“It was a particularly poor performance,” Allardyce said. “The players didn’t cope with the high tempo and hard work that Wigan were prepared to put in and, in the end, some of the individuals in my team failed to live up to their reputations. When you get players passing the ball to the opposition, it just shows that the hard work of Wigan paid off. We cracked under the constant pressure, but our problem is that we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot.”

It is little wonder that the travelling supporters turned their frustrations on Allardyce. They want instant success and he wants time to deliver it, but both are unrealistic expectations.

“We’re s*** and we’re sick of it,” the Newcastle fans chanted after Ryan Taylor’s 64th minute free kick, a direct strike from 20 yards, secured a deserved three points for the home side.

“I’m delighted for Ryan because he has come back from two broken legs,” Steve Bruce, the Wigan manager, said. “The free kick was as good as I’ve seen, but the three points are vital. It looks as though we now have the stomach for a fight and hopefully we can now stay clear of the bottom three.”

As the game drew to a close, the television cameras focused on Ashley standing among the supporters and he looked as glum as the rest. He now has a decision to make. Does he stick or twist, does he back Allardyce with more money in January? Or does he answer the pleas of the supporters and ditch Allardyce for Alan Shearer?

Newcastle face three of the top five in their next three league games. Unless there is an unlikely reversal of fortunes in those games, Ashley might just decide to make that call to Shearer.

How they lined up

Wigan Athletic (4-4-2): C Kirkland – M Melchiot, T Bramble, P Scharner, K Kilbane – A Valencia, D Landzaat, M Brown, R Taylor (sub: S Olembe, 74min) – A Sibierski (sub: J Aghahowa, 71), M Bent. Substitutes not used: M Pollitt, E Boyce, S Olembe, J Skoko. Booked: Brown.

Newcastle United (4-1-4-1-): S Given – H Beye, S Taylor, A Faye, C N’Zogbia – Emre Belözoglu – J Milner, Gérémi (sub: O Martins, 66), A Smith, D Duff (sub: J Enrique, 78) – M Viduka. Substitutes not used: S Harper, Caçapa, N Butt. Booked: Smith.

Referee: M Dean.

What they need

Wigan Steve Bruce, the manager, has made recruiting a new left back his top priority when the transfer window opens on Tuesday. Kevin Kilbane, the midfield player, has been operating at full back since the departure of Leighton Baines in August.

Newcastle Sam Allardyce, the manager, is ready to make a renewed bid to sign Tal Ben-Haim, the Chelsea defender. Allardyce failed to tempt the Israel player from Bolton during the summer, but lack of football at Stamford Bridge may persuade him to move to Tyneside.