Newcastle United news: Steve McClaren sticking to his ‘philosophy’

Former England midfielder Paul Merson claims Chelsea will continue their recent good form against beleaguered Newcastle this weekend, as per Sky Sports.

It’s certainly not a hobby, that’s for sure.

The Magpies find themselves only above Sunderland in the Premier League table and are still searching for their first league win of the season, after picking up just two points from six league games.

After the troubles of Alan Pardew’s last 12 months, and John Carver’s bad reign, Newcastle clearly feel they need a change in style and culture at the club. The club want to win prizes and the cup is a big prize.

If only some of the current United players would follow suit, because this season is in danger of turning into something quite ugly.

Steve McLaren, Newcastle United head coach, has admitted that the club are going through tough times. McClaren insisted on his players staying on the pitch after the game to applaud the crowd after the inept performance against the Owls.

One player who has been singled out for criticism from some sections of the media and Newcastle support is Coloccini, but McClaren opted against naming individuals.

Newcastle shelled out almost £50 million to recruit five players in the summer, four to bolster the attack, but have scored just three top-flight goals in 2015/16.

Jose Mourinho has never won a Premier League game at St James’ Park (D2 L3) – the only other PL stadium he’s not won at is the Emirates (D3).

Steve McClaren is confident he can deliver the changes needed at Newcastle, despite a awful start to his reign on Tyneside.

“It’s not a concern about all the results, but we want to win”.

Newcastle’s next two games see them meet Chelsea and Manchester City, meaning the pressure could be further piled on McClaren before the global break.

The Blues have lost each of their last three visits to St James’s Park. “We should not forget we are still relatively early into the season with lots of games to go and points to play for”.

Since then, they have threaded three successive victories together.

Their reward is a home tie against Arsenal in the fourth round, despite Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal making 10 changes to the Championship side that beat Fulham 3-2 on Saturday.

That means Loic Remy, who was among the scorers in Wednesday’s 4-1 cup victory over Walsall, or Falcao could lead the line in the north east.