da 888casino： When Eddie Howe and his spirited Bournemouth outfit first approached the now increasingly anxious realms of St. James’ Park on Saturday, many Newcastle fans quite understandably saw the fixture as a must-win contest for their much-maligned side in the race for Premier League survival.
da 888casino： …But as the Magpies once again turned out a less than satisfactory performance that subsequently resulted in a 3-1 loss, speculation surrounding the uncertainty of Steve McClaren’s future on Tyneside has seemingly doubled, with Newcastle slipping ever closer to the drop.
So then, has the former Middlesbrough, Derby and England manager now well and truly come to the end of the road with his current employers, or will the St. James’ Park faithful be forced to put up with ‘Schteve’ for a good while yet to come?
Well, although the 54-year-old English tactician doesn’t seem keen on quitting his current post, the Magpies’ boardroom staff have nonetheless reportedly entered ‘crisis talks’ regarding his future, and if the recent backlash from the Tyneside supporters is anything to go by, McClaren may have indeed become a somewhat marked man.
And even though many seemingly expected Newcastle to struggle in 2015/16, no club that has recently spent close to £80m on their current squad should ever come close to flirting with the threat of relegation, regardless of all the other external factors influencing who stays up and who goes down within the Premier League.
The current ‘Toon’ boss is therefore more than worthy of the recent criticism sent his way, for Newcastle simply don’t seem to be improving under his increasingly questionable leadership style. The well-supported North East club look more and more doomed every time McClaren steps up in his post-match interviews to address the current issues affecting his squad, which doesn’t bode well for even the most optimistic members of the ‘Toon Army’.
Quite frankly, McClaren always seemed like the wrong man for the job at St. James’ Park from the very get go. His notorious failure to qualify for Euro 2008 with the England national side still haunts his reputation in this country, and although even the greatest failures among the game deserve something close to a second chance sooner rather than later, this is a man who has clearly failed to motivate his squad throughout large portions of the current league campaign.
The former Three Lions manager looks out of his depth right now if we are all being honest with ourselves. When you see your team’s manager including the likes of Emmanuel Riviere and Yoan Gouffran as some kind of last roll of the dice in the midst of a clear relegation dog-fight, you know your side must be in serious trouble – even if nearly £80m has nonetheless been spent on the squad over the past two transfer windows.
However, even though both David Moyes and Rafa Benitez have subsequently been linked with the Magpies hot-seat on the back of such a poor performance last time out in the league, does any of this actually mean that McClaren will lose his job before the end of the season? Arguably not…
Current Newcastle chairman, and all-round tyrant on Tyneside, Mike Ashley, has carved out a reputation for landing desperate managers who probably wouldn’t be operating in the English top-flight at the helm of any other Premier League outfit. McClaren may be failing to captivate the St. James’ faithful out on the pitch this season, but as he nonetheless remains a clear ‘yes-man’ for the Newcastle hierarchy in general, it’s hard to imagine the 54-year-old being told to pack his bags any time soon.
So then, although McClaren’s floundering management style has seemingly become the latest issue to afflict Newcastle in the modern era, the overall policy and equally questionable decision-making behind the scene at St. James’ arguably remains the club’s greatest problem in the cold light of day.
As even Mike Ashley must be sweating over his side’s current status in the Premier League, however, perhaps Newcastle’s inexcusable home loss to Bournemouth last time out may indeed serve to tip the balance this time around…
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