Stand-in manager Nigel Pearson has admitted Newcastle's crushing 6-0 defeat by Manchester United on Saturday night may help get the mess at St James' Park resolved a bit faster.
In a week which has seen the exit of Sam Allardyce and a very public snub by Harry Redknapp, the last thing the Magpies needed was to fly straight into the face of a United storm.
After clinging on for dear life during a goalless first half, Newcastle were swept away by a ruthless exhibition of firepower from the Premier League champions, who recorded their biggest win over the Tyneside outfit for 40 years.
So, while chairman Chris Mort has vowed the club will take as long as necessary to find Allardyce's replacement, with a hazardous FA Cup replay against Stoke looming on Wednesday, followed by a home encounter with Bolton next weekend, Pearson would not be surprised if the process is speeded up.
"After a day like this I would have thought there will be a lot of people who think we need to make a decision sooner rather than later," he said.
"I would fully understand. For everyone concerned, it would make sense for things to move as quickly as possible.
"But I have no idea what timescale we are looking at and until the situation is resolved, we have to keep going."
With Redknapp now out of the picture, the Newcastle fans made their own feelings pretty clear by bellowing out Alan Shearer's name at regular intervals.
Yet Shearer's Match of the Day colleagues claimed the former England skipper deemed it 'highly unlikely' he would become Newcastle's next manager.
That is not to say another mooted possibility; Shearer acting as assistant to Gerard Houllier, could not come about. While a Kevin Keegan-Shearer partnership has been touted as a 'dream ticket' for many on Tyneside.
However, for now, Blackburn's Mark Hughes and former Tottenham chief Martin Jol are the bookies' choice to take a job which, on this evidence, is a particularly onerous one.
Newcastle's capacity for defensive fragility is the stuff of folklore but they almost surpassed themselves at Old Trafford as Cristiano Ronaldo ran riot.
"We capitulated in the second half," said Pearson.
"I suppose there are mitigating circumstances but we cannot go down like that.
"The way we folded was a bad end to a bad week. Some of the things we did were exceptionally good, others were appalling.
"When you are playing against a team as talented and ruthless as Manchester United, you make it very difficult for yourself. There was a big gap between the two teams."
Pearson has vowed to stick it out until Allardyce's successor is installed and remains committed to picking the players up for the visit of Stoke.
It is an unenviable task given the scale of the job, not helped by the needless dismissal of skipper Alan Smith in the final minute for taking his argument with referee Rob Styles over Carlos Tevez's second goal a step too far.
Smith may have had a point in claiming Tevez's effort did not cross the line but pursuing the matter in such a forthright manner was pointless given the landslide scoreline.
Another former Manchester United man, Nicky Butt, is already banned, leaving Pearson to reflect on a tough few days ahead.
"We have two players suspended now which compounds the problems," he said.
"The transfer window is open but the longer this situation goes on, the more difficult it is.
"It has been a very hard week for everyone. My boss has been sacked, which is not very nice.
"But I am employed as a coach by Newcastle and I take my profession very seriously.
"At times like this, you have to put your personal feelings to one side. There is a job to do and the responsibility is mine.
"I have been in this sort of situation before. I do not have control over the decision as to who will be the manager. My responsibility is to pick the players up and get them prepared for a game on Wednesday."
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