Newcastle fans have been expressing their anger and sheer disbelief after the club seemingly messed up the appointment of Unai Emery as the leader of a fresh era under the Saudi Arabian owners.

On Tuesday it emerged that Emery had been identified as the prime candidate to succeed Steve Bruce and become the first manager under the new Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund ownership, yet just 24 hours later a deal was off.

Emery had been contacted by Newcastle representatives and spoke openly about considering the offer and ruling nothing out. Yet things would soon change.

Speaking in a press conference former Arsenal and now current Villarreal boss Emery said he was not ‘closing any doors’ and was widely expected to be appointed ahead of Newcastle’s Saturday trip to Brighton.

Now, however, uncertainty looms. In a statement, confirming he would not be heading to Newcastle, Emery said: ‘No matter how much noise there was yesterday in another country, within the club there was transparency and loyalty with the [chairman] Roig family and with my squad, which is the most important thing.

‘Villarreal CF is my home and I am 100 per cent committed. Honestly, I am grateful for the interest of a great club, but even more grateful to be here and that is why I communicated to Fernando Roig my decision to want to continue being part of this project because of the commitment and respect that I perceive from the club and from my players, which is mutual and reciprocal.’

Upon hearing the news, many Newcastle fans quickly took to social media to make their feelings known. One in particular couldn’t help but point the finger at the owners and compare the failure to get a deal done to the previous Mike Ashley regime.

Twitter user @ant_g1″ >@ant_g1 wrote: ‘New owners same old story!! #JokeClub’

Another fan noted that the nature in which the Emery link came and went carried a very ‘Mickey Mouse’ feeling and should not be the way a club with major aspirations conducts itself.

Some were much more pessimistic, with one fan simply writing: ‘We’re going down, it’s as simple as that. Emery was the only chance we had of survival.’

Despite the uncertainty shrouding the club, one fan managed to see the lighter side and quipped that a very familiar face could be making a return – Sam Allardyce.

User @toongirl83″ >@toongirl83 pondered: ‘We’re going to end up getting Big Sam aren’t we!’