Newcastle United appoint Steve McClaren as new head coach

Under McClaren, the Rams were leading the Championship in late February but won only two out of their last 13 league games, but the recently dismissed boss has immediately found a new role at Newcastle.

The former FC Twente boss knows all about working in the North East and will be aware that instant results will be needed to please an already unhappy crowd on Tyneside, having enjoyed a relatively successful stint with Middlesbrough in his career.

McClaren’s spell in charge of Boro resulted in him winning the League Cup, taking the club into Europe, reaching the UEFA Cup final and eventually leaving for the England job in 2006. The newly-appointed Magpies boss is likely to come under immediate pressure due to his previous connections to close city rivals Boro, but he will be keen rebuild his reputation after failing to gain promotion for a second successive season with Derby.

Patrick Vieira, an elite development coach at Manchester City and former Arsenal captain, had also been linked with the vacant post on Tyneside, but McClaren is the man who has been trusted with taking the club forward into next season.

McClaren is a vastly experienced coach, having learnt his trade under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, as the Scot’s assistant for two campaigns, before two spells as his country’s assistant on either side of a five-year stay at Middlesbrough. Before arriving at Derby, the York-born coach also served his time abroad, with two stints as FC Twente’s boss adding to his 10 months in charge of German outfit Wolfsburg, where he was eventually also dismissed from.

The well-travelled Englishman will now face the daunting task of steering Newcastle towards the top half of the Premier League table next term, with his inherited side 11/2 with Coral to be relegated.