Newcastle United were 2013/2014's biggest disappointment

Loic Remy was one of Newcastle's bright spots last season

Our Leeds team are providing opinion of the 2013/2014 season and they are distinctly underwhelmed with Newcastle's season.

At the end of every Premier League campaign there is always a mixture of emotions across the league. Some fans will be distraught having been relegated, others will be elated having picked up silverware or qualified for Europe. 

As long as supporters are assured that their players have given everything over the course of the campaign then, whether the team will begin next season as defending Champions or as promotion chasers in the Championship, they can look forward with confidence. 

One group of fans who will take little cheer from 2013/14 and will be finding particular difficulty in viewing the coming season in a positive light are the Newcastle United fans.

The Magpies may have finished the season in a respectable 10th place but this only tells half the story. At the midway point Alan Pardew's men were up in 8th place on 33 points, just four points behind Everton in the final Champions League place. 

In the second half of the campaign Newcastle took just 16 points, the kind of form that would have seen them relegated had they not started the season so brightly. In their last ten games, United scored just six goals (three of these came in one game against Cardiff City) and picked up just six points.

The alarming slip in Newcastle's form coincided with Alan Pardew's stadium ban for head-butting Hull City's David Meyler. This unseemly incident was the latest in a long line of indiscretions by Pardew, whose temper and lack of respect for opponents and officials has only added to his unpopularity amongst the Toon Army. 

Pardew's lead seems to have been followed by his players, with long-serving striker Shola Ameobi being shown two yellow cards in as many minutes for dissent against Liverpool on the last day of the season. When one of your club's most experienced players is dismissed in such a manner it leaves little room for optimism. Ameobi has since been shown the door, but Pardew remains in charge.

The downturn in Newcastle's form also coincided with the departure of Yohann Cabaye, who left the club in January to join Paris Saint-Germain. The Magpies may have received upwards of 19m for their star midfielder but, to all intents and purposes, their season ended when he headed back to France. 

With the loss of the spark and creativity offered by Cabaye, Newcastle fans will surely be hoping for a big name signing to give them some hope in 2014/15. Unfortunately for them, recent history suggests that they may be out of luck. In the last two transfer windows Pardew has made just three signings: youth player Olivier Kemen from Metz, Loic Remy on loan from QPR and Luuk de Jong on loan from Borussia Mnchengladbach. 

Both Remy, who was a real hit at St James Park, and de Jong, who failed to score in his 12 appearances for the club, have now left Newcastle.

The lack of signings and the downturn in form after Christmas demonstrates a real lack of ambition at the club. In 2011/12 the Magpies made a determined push for Champions League football and were rewarded with a Europa League place; Pardew was rewarded with an eight-year contract. 

In the following year, however, the travelling and additional games took their toll on Pardew's small squad and the Toon flirted with relegation. After this experience, fans could be forgiven for thinking that the club is risk averse and would quite happily settle for a mid-table finish every season as long as they weren't forced to endure Europa League football. 

No fan wants to accept that their club isn't striving to reach the next level but Newcastle will have to make some real changes next season if their fans are to think otherwise. Finishing in the top half of the Premier League is an achievement in itself for many clubs but, after the start that Newcastle made to 2013/14, they should have been challenging for Europe. 

The Magpies' capitulation towards the end of the season makes it very hard to overlook them as 2013/14's biggest disappointment.