Sorry Newcastle United's Steve McClaren Is Not the Biggest Problem

The ultimate kick in the teeth for Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley was losing to Crystal Palace, and more specifically Alan Pardew, on Saturday. Not just losing, but being trounced 5-1 did little to help Steve McClaren and his position at the club either, with reports of McClaren’s position as the Magpies manager now coming under increasing pressure. What Ashley needs to realize, though, is that it is not necessarily the manager who is the biggest problem at the club.

The players McClaren has to work with deserve to be scrutinized every bit as much, and given their performances in recent seasons, maybe more so. Ashley and Pardew parted ways last season with Pardew under pressure to leave the club due to the team’s poor form. But look at how Pardew is performing at Palace now with a different group of players. Pardew wasn’t the real problem at Newcastle a year ago, and McClaren is not necessarily the problem now.

That doesn’t mean McClaren doesn’t deserve some of the blame for the team’s struggles, but when the same group of players continue to falter, regardless of the manager, then you have to look at the consistent factor in the equation. The attitude of the Magpies players has been brought into question at times, and that cannot just be swept under the carpet.

The problem McClaren has is that it is a whole lot easier to replace one man than it is to replace the eleven in the Magpies team. The easy route is not always the correct one, though, and Ashley has to consider that. The Newcastle owner seems to run the club too much based on the financial accounts and not enough on paying a premium to get in the appropriate talent.

A few years ago, Ashley struck gold when he brought in the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote for small transfer fees and the team performed above expectations. But you cannot expect to consistently have that kind of success buying lesser-known talents for smaller fees. Yet, again, this summer, Ashley did the same thing by signing the likes of Florian Thauvin and Aleksandar Mitrovic. And once again, things are not going too well for the team.

Ashley needs to change his approach and concentrate more on the playing staff than the coaching staff. Maybe McClaren won’t succeed at St. James’ Park, but judging the 54-year-old with this Newcastle team, and given what we already know about the players in it, is not going to offer a realistic gauge.

Something is fundamentally wrong at Newcastle, but chances are, the players are more likely to be the biggest problem at the club than any manager on the sideline.