Steve McClaren has given us his update on the side ahead of the match against Bournemouth at St James’ Park in a somewhat cagey press conference.
As well as answering questions about his side’s injuries and home form, the former Derby County manager was also questioned frequently about his future, which lead to a dispute between himself and a member of the press.
McClaren had originally dismissed comments from the journalist insisting that he had an agenda against the club due a previous employment with Newcastle United being terminated a number of years ago. This lead to a dispute after the press conference, but both parties had cooled off afterwards.
Whether this event should be seen as evidence that the pressure is getting to McClaren is a different story, but it is very evident that things are becoming more heated than ever in the North-East.
With the visitors being Eddie Howe's newly promoted Bournemouth, the fans will be rightfully expecting nothing less than a positive result.
The manager’s future
Despite being defensive on certain questions, the former England international manager did give fans an indication that he is certainly still wanting to remain in charge.
Newcastle’s 1-0 defeat to Stoke City saw them slide back down into the relegation zone, with Swansea City getting a win against Arsenal and putting six points between themselves and the drop zone, relegation has the potential to be a only a four horse race between the Magpies, Sunderland, Norwich and Aston Villa.
McClaren has condemned comments regarding his future. The 54-year old pleaded with journalists to stop publishing negative comments as the club don’t want anything that could potentially “Destabilise what the club is trying to achieve here between now and the end of the season.”
The manager also claims that he has not lost the dressing room. The Newcastle squad has had a number of big money signings both in the summer and winter transfer windows with players like Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend, Aleksander Mitrovic and Georginio Wijnaldum arriving for sizeable price tags.
This level of talent was praised by the manager and he believes that despite the loss, his side showed some real character in their performance.
Pride in the home form
McClaren was keen to point out his sides form at St James’ Park. “We’ve lost one of our last six at home, we’ve given the home crowd something to cheer about and we need to do that again.” In fact the home side can be proud of the fact that they have only lost two of their last 10 matches in front of their home support, a statistic that would not usually be associated with a relegation fighting side.
Team updates
Vurnon Anita and Siem de Jong will come back into contention for the Magpies starting 11. But they will not be joined by Townsend.
The former Tottenham winger is still recovering from an injury and his manager has insisted that the England international will not be risked until he is 100% fit.
The biggest loss for Newcastle is that their mainstay centre-back partnership will still be out injured. Both club captain Fabricio Coloccini and summer signing Chancel Mbemba are still both expected to be out, meaning that McClaren must be looking elsewhere in his squad.