Siem de Jong: Newcastle United’s jigsaw will piece together soon

The Magpies’ less than impressive start to life under McClaren has prompted scathing responses from some pundits, among them Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and former Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer. “Papiss Cisse has had a problem with his back since West Ham”, McClaren said. “That’s the character we need”.

McClaren’s only win came in the Capital One Cup second round against League Two Northampton, and as he prepares for the third round clash with Sky Bet Championship Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday evening, he is hoping disgruntled fans can remain patient.

“Some players have been magnificent in games and others aren’t playing up to their level, to their unusual standard, so you are always going to get indifference”, he said. “That’s what we want to do this week, starting with the cup game”. We’re only a couple of months together with this group and the new manager and coaching staff, and we need to figure out the way we need to play.

“You want to win every home game, so we’re disappointed”.

Chairman Mike Ashley is far from being one of the most well liked men in football – the supporters have not been behind him for many seasons now, as the changes he has made to the club seem to be causing more harm than good.

“They’ve got good players who can hurt us.” We know that.

Daryl Janmaat pulled a goal back for McClaren’s side, and de Jong – who is likely to start against Wednesday – was frustrated he couldn’t find the net himself.

“I’ve just got to keep working hard, keep my head down and when I get the opportunity take it”.

“They were defending with a lot of players, and coming out on the counter-attack”.