Moving Target – Steve McClaren

Newcastle United filled their vacant managerial post last Wednesday, signing Steve McClaren to a three-year deal. The former Derby County boss was sacked at the end the 2014/15 Championship season after failing to secure a play-off berth – despite the fact the Rams topped the division in late February.

Magpies managing director Lee Charnley landed his man on the third attempt, having approached McClaren in the wake of Alan Pardew’s dismissal and again with three fixtures left on the calendar – when the Toon were in the midst of an eight-match losing streak under John Carver’s tenure.

Newcastle recorded just three wins in the second half of the season, so there’s clearly a plethora of shortcomings to address on his arrival at St James’ Park. Nonetheless, McClaren is certainly not setting his sights low for the season ahead:

“This is a big club with a wonderful heritage. St. James’ Park is like a cathedral on a Saturday afternoon, a symbol for the city and I am excited to be given this opportunity. This club has waited far too long to win a trophy. That’s one of my primary objectives here. I’ve already won trophies as a manager, and a club the size of Newcastle United should be winning cups and finishing in the top eight in the Premier League. I’m determined to give the supporters of Newcastle United a team they can be proud of. The hard work starts now.”

The History

Following spells as an assistant coach at Derby County and then Manchester United, McClaren replaced the outgoing Bryan Robson at Middleborough. During his five-year stint at the Teesside club, the former Hull City midfielder guided them to a League Cup trophy (2003/04) and a Uefa Cup final (2005/06), becoming the first Englishman to take an English club to a European final since 1984.

McClaren’s next appointment saw him replace Seven-Goran Eriksson in the England hot seat. He famously presided over the Three Lions squad that failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after a loss 3-2 to Croatia in their final group fixture, and was sacked the day after the Wembley disaster, marking the shortest tenure (18 games in 16 months) of any English manager in history.

McClaren dusted himself off and made the switch to the Eredivisie, taking the reins at FC Twente. Having steered the Dutch outfit out of the UEFA Cup group stages for the first time in 30 years during his debut season, McClaren led Twente to the first league title in the club’s history in the 2009/10 campaign. In the process, he recorded the highest win percentage (63.37%) of his career to date.

In the wake of two unsuccessful spells at Wolfsburg (24 matches at a 29.17% win rate) and Nottingham Forest (13 matches at a 23.08% win rate), McClaren returned to Twente in January 2012. A sixth place finish fell well short of the York-born manager’s title ambitions, ultimately leading to his resignation midway through the next season.

Two summers ago, McClaren was installed as the head coach of Derby County on a two-and-a-half-year deal. A tally of 85 points in his first season earned the Rams entry into the Championship play-offs, where they were beaten in the final by Queens Park Rangers. The 2014/15 campaign looked certain to reap greater rewards, given that Derby were perched at the summit on February 24. Unfortunately, McClaren’s outfit went into free fall from that point on, recording just two wins in their final 13 match-ups and falling out of play-off contention entirely.

The Previous Regime

In response to Alan Pardew taking up the mantle at Crystal Palace, John Carver – who’d been assigned as caretaker manager for the Toon’s previous two matches – was handed the reins until the end of the season.

Although Carver’s tenure gone off to the perfect start with a 3-0 road victory over Hull City, Newcastle’s subsequent eight-match losing streak set a new ignominious record for the Tyneside club in the top flight. Carver arrested the run of defeats with a draw against West Bromwich Albion and a win against West Ham United on the final day – ultimately ensuring Newcastle’ survival – but three wins in 16 matches proved insufficient to warrant a renewal on his contract.

The Season Ahead

Judging from McClaren’s conversation with the local press, it’ll be some time before he’s formulated a clear plan of action. For now, Alex Ferguson’s former assistant insists that every player stands on equal footing as he sets about scrutinising Newcastle’s full roster:

“Everyone’s got a clean slate. I’ve got no preconceptions of anyone – they are all damned good players. At the end of the day they have to produce and cross the white line for us. As a staff we’ll try to get them producing and get everyone on the same page. At the moment there seem to be a lot of pages flying about. We need to work out what we’re trying to do and get everyone going in the right direction to do it. A lot of the next few weeks is communication. What can we do to improve things?”

In terms of tactics, McLaren is likely to continue with the 4-3-3 formation that brought Derby so close to promotion. The former Rams boss favours a target man to lead the line, with a holding midfielder sitting in front of the back-four – indeed, his lack of a Plan B and reluctance to change systems, in spite of a number of late-season injuries, has been cited as fundamental to his former side’s failure to make the step up to the top-flight.

Furthermore, McClaren has stated his intention to field a smattering of flair players who possess the pace and trickery to threaten opposition defences. He also expressed the importance of delving into the transfer market to strengthen their options up front:

“One thing I want to see is exciting players – a bit of pace, a bit of speed and individualism. This crowd has always had a number nine-style player and it’d be great to get one of them in. Believe me, every manager would say they want to build this exciting team that attacks all the time and scores goals. Ultimately though, you want to build a team that wins. We’re in the results business – there are different ways to achieve that and different styles. Sometimes you have to be pragmatic and work with what you have. I’ve got a vision and I know what I want to achieve.”

On the flanks, Remy Cabella will be hoping to make his mark after a disappointing debut year on Tyneside. The Frenchman racked up 14 goals in his final season with Montpellier and could be a key player under the new regime as McLaren goes on the offensive. There’s hope that McClaren’s search for that x-factor could result in an increased role for Rolando Aarons. The Jamaican-born winger – who wields pace in abundance and silky footwork – would have been a much more prominent feature for the North East outfit had he not suffered a spate of hamstring and thigh injuries last term. Now fit again and scoring for the England U20s in the Toulon tournament, Aarons could be a breakthrough Fantasy star next season.

Expanding on the striker situation, Charlie Austin, Andy Carroll and Wolfsburg frontman Bas Dost have all been heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park in recent weeks. Although Papiss Cisse returned to form last season – given that only Sergio Aguero (101.6) and Diego Costa (106.7) posted a superior minutes per goal record – his struggles with injuries and ill-discipline (missed 10 fixtures due to suspensions) necessitate added depth in that department.

As a result of Newcastle’s dire defensive record last season (only QPR conceded more goals), the majority of their first-teamers at the back should retain low starting values. This could give rise to a handful of enticing sub-5.0 options if McClaren can instill some resilience and organisation in the rearguard, with the likes of Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini expected to start at 4.5 again, though Daryl Janmaat – by virtue of his one goal and eight assists in the previous campaign – is likely to remain the priciest and most attractive backline option at St James’ Park.

Elsewhere in the Toon camp, McClaren will be looking to source more goals from the centre of the park next term, considering their midfielders notched just 13 between them. Moussa Sissoko is arguably the strongest candidate to shoulder that responsibility; the all-action France international was the joint-top goalscorer (four) among his counterparts and sat first and second for attempts on goal (44) and key passes (43) amongst his midfield team-mates respectively.

McLaren will also be hoping that forgotten man Siem de Jong can finally shake off the injury concerns that restricted him to a mere four first-team appearances for the Magpies last time out. Like Cabella, the Dutchman has the pedigree and can also be expected to sit in the mid-price bracket as a result of last term’s struggles.