I sincerely hope relegation doesn't become a reality but I get the feeling a lot of people are giving 1's 2's and 3's, not out of purely thinking Newcastle will definitely stay up, but that it's still relatively early in the season.
It's a real possiblity unfortunately. I see no reason why things will suddenly pick up for a sustained amount of time, or to a good enough level, i.e. to be entirely safe from the relegation fight.