Alan Pardew felt the heat from Newcastle's supporters as the Magpies slumped to a fourth consecutive Barclays Premier League defeat at Stoke.
A banner calling for Pardew to go was displayed before and after the 1-0 defeat and the large away following directed their ire towards their manager in the stands during the match.
Newcastle have conceded 12 goals without reply in their four losses, although there was more than a hint of misfortune about this one.
Erik Pieters' goal in the 42nd minute was his first for six years and the Dutch left-back certainly did not intend for his cross to drop into the top corner.
Pardew accepted Newcastle's current run is not good enough, saying of the fans: "I think their frustration boiled over a little bit and we need to settle it down.
"The way to settle it down is to get a win, unfortunately it hasn't come today."
Injuries certainly have not helped and Pardew hopes the return of top scorer Loic Remy can provoke a change in fortune.
He said: "It was close today. I thought we had good character in the group. It was an honest performance but we lacked creative flair, and we lack a little bit of ability in and around the box.
"Loic's return, which I think will happen next week, will be important to us."
Pardew's main gripe was not the goal but referee Mike Jones' refusal to give a penalty when Papiss Cisse went down under a challenge from Geoff Cameron.
"It was a bit of a fluke goal," said the Magpies boss.
"The wind took hold of it, which made it almost impossible for Tim (Krul) to save, but I thought the call before that when we should have had a penalty was a big turning point, because we need a goal and that would have been a nice opportunity for us."
Stoke boss Mark Hughes acknowledged their slice of luck but believed his side merited the three points.
He said: "In fairness to Erik, he's already held his hand up. It was a little bit of fortune, that wasn't his intention obviously, but I thought his link-up play with Marko (Arnautovic) was really positive for us.
"He's been in that position many times this season and put quality balls in that haven't been converted. Today he's got in the same position and put another quality ball in and it's gone in, and he takes credit for that.
"We had the vast majority of the clear-cut chances in the game. Newcastle put balls into good areas but I thought defensively we were nice and sound today.
"We didn't really come under any sustained pressure, and any pressure we did come under we dealt with. All in all, it was a very professional performance."
Dutch international Pieters joined Stoke last summer from PSV Eindhoven and has started all but two Premier League games.
"He's done really well," said Hughes."
"It's difficult for a player to come into a new league. He's played almost every game for me and done really well in the majority of them.
"Prior to that he hadn't played a great deal of football for a year, so for him to come in and have the season he has in his first season in the Premier League, he takes great credit.
"I'm pleased he's able to get the headlines today."
Source: PA
