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Opinion

50 Reasons to sack Steve McClaren

8 years ago
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Quite a while ago Newcastle United were in a dire situation and it seemed like things could not get any worse under Alan Pardew.

This led me to write the article ‘58 reasons why Alan Pardew should be sacked’.

Fast forward 18 months and here we are again, nothing has changed and Newcastle United is still a mess…except we are managed by a man who has almost eclipsed the great Alan Pardew in the muppet department.

Here is the Steve McClaren countdown;

1 If there was one thing that fans thought would change it was that we would maybe, just maybe, change things in the cups…beaten by a Championship reserve team (Sheff Wed made 10 changes) at home in the League Cup.

2 Watford sent us out the FA Cup… any manager that loses THREE times to Watford in one season needs to be held accountable (no offence to Watford).

3 Newcastle United have only achieved 30 points in 2015, which is their lowest post-war total – for which Steve McClaren must take at the very least 50% of the blame – maybe more considering the support he has had from the board compared to John Carver.

4 Newcastle United have currently lost 7 away games in a row in all competitions. Despite what McClaren would have you believe… we don’t win that often at home either!

5 Failure to get anything out of games when going a goal down (yes with the exception of Tottenham). Something we did all too often under Bobby Robson (which shows that it is possible with the right side that is filled with leaders! Given, Speed, Shearer).

6 As McClaren is now a board member – and the board have once again failed miserably at just about everything they do – he should be held accountable for this.

7 Failure to put a decent side together out of millions of pounds worth of talent.

8 Although I have my own reservations about Florian Thauvin, as well as attaching some blame to Chief Scout Carr, Steve McClaren got absolutely nothing out of Thauvin. This is a £13,000,000 player. Would things with Thauvin have been different under another manager, maybe a French manager? I think so.

9 Being humiliated by Sunderland in the derby – losing 3-0.

10 Continuing the modern tradition under Mike Ashley of leaving the FA Cup at first possible opportunity.

11 Over a 26 game period, Steve McClaren has a WORSE record than Alan Pardew.

12 Newcastle have conceded an average 1.88 goals per game this season. MOST goals conceded per game since the 1966/67 season.

13 McClaren should take responsibility for the appoint of mental motivator guru Steve Black who seemingly has no idea what he is doing.

14 Along with Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley… Steve McClaren has been a key contributor to the losing culture that exists at Newcastle United. So far our 2015/16 record is:

P72 W17 D13 L42

15 Questions should also be raised over McClaren’s coaching staff who HE has appointed… Simpson and Cathro.

16 Failure to sign a centre back when we have one of the worst defences in the league.

17 Failure to sign a left back when it was so painfully obvious that we needed one.

18 Failure to sign a striker when we can’t score goals.

19 For those of you who say that transfers are out of McClaren’s control, let me tell you that it’s not. Unlike Alan Pardew, Steve McClaren sits on the board at Newcastle United and the transfer committee or whatever they want to call it. Therefore, he should be held responsible for transfer related matters.

20 Although injuries have been a problem at Newcastle United for as long as I can remember, they still exist now, and McClaren again, as manager, should be the one who takes the blame.

21 McClaren has put together a side that is seemingly reliant on one player to score goals and essentially carry the team… Gini Wijnaldum. Unlike Loic Remy or Yohan Cabaye in the past, who were generally consistent, the one player we actually rely on rarely turns up for work.

22 Only 28 points from the last 38 games for Newcastle United. The lowest since 1978.

23 Thrown away leads against Southampton (twice), Chelsea and Crystal Palace. I know this is only 3 games, but this is the point exactly, we actually very rarely go in the lead! When we do go in the lead, at least half of the time, we throw it away!

24 Newcastle have conceded 25 goals in 12 games against bottom half opponents.

25 Steve McClaren has never apologised for a performance.

26 Steve McClaren has won 6 out of the past 27 in the Premier League.

27 Steve McClaren has won 2 out of the last 11 in the Premier League.

28 Failure to bring through or use any youth players. With the biggest of note being Rolando Aarons… who only gets a game at left back. Can we assume that when Armstrong returns next season he will be played out wide?

I accept that these young players are probably not good enough, however what Leicester have shown us this season is that sometimes you are better off having a team full of players who care and work their socks off, than more naturally gifted players.

29 Newcastle United are 19th in the table and staring relegation in the face!

30 For a side that is really struggling for strength in depth (or just a good starting 11 to be honest) it’s important to highlight that McClaren oversaw the departure of several players in the summer including Gutierrez, Santon and Ryan Taylor… All players we could have done with this year!

31 Failure to find a place in the team for Ayoze Perez, one of our best players.

32 Steve McClaren has shown no evidence in his career that he can turn around a sinking ship. Under his tenure, Middlesbrough only got worse. Wolfsburg only got worse, England only got worse, Derby only got worse and Nottingham Forest only got worse.

33 A woeful start to the season has not been rectified. McClaren won only 1 of his first 10 games as manager.

34 Failure to be brave and drop ‘big names’ who aren’t performing. Coloccini, Sissoko… even Wijnaldum away from home.

35 The capitulation of the team in games shows that players are often not playing for him and simply don’t care. 6-1 away to Man City. 3-0 at home to Leicester. 3-0 away to Sunderland. 5-1 away to Crystal Palace. 5-1 away to Chelsea.

36 The only ground where Newcastle United have taken any points from in the bottom 15 is Bournemouth. Ironically, even though we won that game, we were absolutely terrible and managed only 1 shot on target in the whole game with our keeper getting MOM.

37 Newcastle have the 7th worst goal difference in the whole of the football league.

38 Also important to note that these are just ONE season’s worth of stats and reasons.

39 Alan Pardew left mainly because his last 25 games were shambolic. Steve McClaren actually has a WORSE record in his first 25 than Pardew did in his last 25.

40 The performances of the team are driving more and more fans away from St James Park.

41 Horrible defensive football – especially away from home – we are SO painful to watch. Mitrovic (5 goals this season) Cisse (2 goals this season) Riviere (0 goals this season).

42 Fabricio Coloccini and the Captaincy. I dont really need to explain that one do I?

43 Incredible list of excuses and ludicrous media comments that border on being worse than what Alan Pardew came out with.

44 Lack of leadership in the dressing room. Why don’t we have a vice-captain? It’s obvious just how bad our squad is when a young Jonjo Shelvey who has never captained any team is the obvious choice of VC.

45 Let’s take a look at the games we have actually won:

Norwich: Flattering scoreline, really tight game for 70 minutes that could have gone either way.

Bournemouth: One of the worst performances of the season.

Liverpool: The only one of the wins so far that was brilliant!

Spurs: We got battered for 70 minutes and took our chances – also got very lucky with the winner! Amazing win nonetheless.

West Ham: Brilliant first 20 minutes – hung on for the rest of the game.

West Brom: Dominated the game but couldn’t score more than 1 past a terrible team.

Convincing? Definitely not. (There are only 6 games there…SIX!)

46 The team is quite clearly not playing for their manager.

47 Tactics wise – I think McClaren is worse than Pardew.

48 “Judge me after 10 games” – “Judge me after 25 games” – when will Steve McClaren be held accountable for the things he says and the things he does?

49 Frequently playing players out of position. So far this season, Janmaat has played CB & LB, Mbabu has played LB, Aarons has played LB, Lascelles has played LB & RB, Colback has played LB, Anita has played RB, Thauvin has played LB, Perez has played LW and RW… and Gouffran has played.

50 Just like with Alan Pardew, the results are as bad as they can be. They are woeful. Under Steve McClaren, we are getting relegated. That in itself should be enough.

Big thanks to @MikeAshleyLies for some of these stats!

You can follow the author on Twitter @JonathanComyn

(To feature like Jonathan, send in your articles for our website to contribute@themag.co.uk)

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