Newcastle have confirmed the worst-kept secret in football when they announced they had accepted Glenn Roeder's resignation.
In a brief statement released through the club's official website, the Magpies revealed they search for a fourth manager in less than three years is underway.
It said: "Newcastle United today announced that Glenn Roeder has offered his resignation as team manager with immediate effect and this has been accepted by the Newcastle United board."
Roeder's decision was made after an emergency meeting called on Sunday in the wake of Saturday's 2-0 home defeat by Blackburn, the final straw for disgruntled supporters who have seen the season lurch from one disaster to another.
It is not yet clear who will take charge for Sunday's final Barclays Premiership fixture at Watford, but the hunt for Roeder's successor is already underway and at least one bookmaker has stopped taking bets on former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce.
Allardyce, who was backed down to 1/4 before Ladbrokes closed the book on his appointment, recently quit after eight years at the Reebok Stadium.
He was courted by Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd in 2004 after Sir Bobby Robson's dismissal, but turned the job down, a factor which meant he was not considered again when Robson's successor Graeme Souness was sacked in February last year.
However, while Allardyce is now available and Shepherd could be prepared to swallow his pride, he still has two and a half years remaining on his Bolton contract and that would mean a sizeable compensation payment.
Newcastle were left with a hefty bill after the departures of Souness and his backroom staff, and with debts of around £80million, they could do without having to fork out scarce funds to land his latest successor.
Whoever the new man is, he, like his most recent predecessors, faces the task of closing the gap between expectation and reality on Tyneside with the club heading for its lowest ever Premiership points return they do not win at Vicarage Road.
They are without a league goal at St James' Park in almost eight hours of football and have won only one of their last 10 domestic games.
Roeder was desperate for time to turn things around after dreadful run of injuries, but his position was virtually untenable when the fans turned on his for the first time after Saturday's game.
Much of their anger, however, was directed at Shepherd, who has fought off two takeover bids in recent months, and he now faces the task of finding the right man for the job - the new manager will be his fifth appointment in less than 10 years - and winning over his increasingly vociferous detractors.
Roeder's replacement will inherit a squad which is packed with talent on paper at least, but has a depressing capacity for under-achievement and is in serious need of a radical overhaul.
