Newcastle United’s 3-0 defeat to Leicester last weekend saw large amounts of criticism aimed at the club.
One man who shouldered a reasonable amount of the blame was head coach Steve McClaren. When the 54-year-old was first appointed manager in June, he knew he had a tough job on his hands and asked all observers to judge him “after 10 games”. When approaching 10 games, McClaren decided it would be more appropriate to judge him after 13 games. Now with 13 games gone, he has now said “judge me at the end of the season.”
Waiting until the end of the season to gauge improvement is too big a risk for Newcastle, with a relegation battle potentially looming. McClaren could be forgiven if there was no investment in the squad, but with £50 million spent in the Summer transfer window, the club should be sitting higher than 17th on the table.
Should the board decide to end McClaren’s tenure, the focus would then be on his replacement. One manager who is a free agent and is sure to be picked up by a Premier League club at some point this season is David Moyes. The Scotsman had a difficult time in La Liga with Real Sociedad and with Manchester United, but his record at Everton suggests he could be a valuable addition to the Magpies.
Newcastle’s present situation is very similar to Everton’s situation from when Moyes took over. He took the reigns at Goodison Park in March 2002 with the Toffees in relegation trouble. He steadied the ship, and then in the 2004-05 season (his third full season in charge), he guided Everton to a fourth-place finish despite the sale of Wayne Rooney. In the remaining eight years Moyes was in charge, the lowest Everton finished was 11th. Along with several top seven finishes, he had the Toffees perform very well in the cups, reaching the final of the FA Cup in 2009. All this was done on a shoe-string budget so no one can say he had it easy.
There are a few possible reservations one could have about the impact Moyes could have at St James’ Park. One could be that he cannot adapt to the changes in football which is why many older managers like Harry Redknapp have had a tough few years, but surely Moyes could not do any worse than McClaren?
Another free manager who could offer a change of philosophy is Brendan Rodgers. Newcastle fans remain divided on the Northern Irishman because of his less than impressive record at Liverpool post the 2013-14 season, but something worth looking at is his record at Swansea City. Rodgers took over the Swans while they were in the Championship and got the Welsh side promoted within a season in a league that is always hard to get out of.
With a squad and manager inexperienced in the top flight, many expected Rodgers to be out of his depth and to lead Swansea straight back down, but a respectable 11th-place finish in their debut season saw him attract attention from Liverpool. The contrast between his time at Swansea and Liverpool suggests he is best suited for a club looking for consolidation as opposed to trying to be a finished article. As far as Newcastle are concerned, their immediate aim needs to be consolidation. His open style of football would also be a breath of fresh air as opposed to the dull football Magpies fans have been exposed to this season.
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As the years go on, the Championship is becoming an increasingly difficult league to get out of. In the last five years, big clubs like Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham have all gone down and not come back up. A club the size of Newcastle United simply cannot afford go down which is why it is unreasonable to give McClaren “all season” to prove himself – especially with the amount of money spent.
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