McClaren Put Out Of His Misery!

Last updated : 11 March 2016 By Footy Mad - Editor

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Throughout the week the heavily chastised 54-year-old has been heckled, harangued, and harassed to such a merciless extent that he'll be relieved to now be out of the firing line, although he'll no doubt be bitterly disappointed at how he's been treated by the relegation strugglers.

But, the harsh reality is that the writing had been on splattered all over the wall for McClaren since last weekend's shambolic 3-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth, which left the Toon 19th in the table.

Newcastle could, and should, have handled the the situation in a more professional manner, but the fact now is that the club has 10 games to avoid the dreaded drop down to the Championship.

Meanwhile, Rafa Benitez is largely expected to be the man to come in the other direction, although nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing.

•McClaren won just seven of his 31 league and cup matches at Newcastle.

•The Toon's tally of 24 points from 28 matches is the club's slimmest ever at this stage of a Premier League campaign.

It took McClaren a whopping nine matches to record his first league win as Newcastle boss. A meagre tally of just three points from the club's opening eight matches smacked pressure on his shoulders early doors, but an out-of-nowhere 6-2 hammering of Norwich, and a further three wins from their following seven games, eased the heat somewhat.

However, the Toons have since scrapped together a pitiful two wins from a dozen top-flight games - a rotten run which includes eight defeats - three of which have come in their last three games, including Saturday's defeat to the Cherries which was greeted by a cacophony of boos from a disgruntled St James' Park.

On Monday the Newcastle board met for crisis talks, while the irate NUFC Fans Forum published a scathing open letter challenging their club to act in this time of turmoil: "Someone, somewhere has to be accountable and decisions must be made.". McClaren continued to take training, but then speculation surrounding his ever fragile future reached fever pitch on Thursday when Sky Sports News revealed that the former England boss would be sacked, with the Toon in advanced talks with Rafa Benitez.

It's been a long time coming but at last Newcastle have ejected McClaren from St James' Park as they bid to boost their chances of maintaining their Premier League status.

The relegation-threatened club are in need of a huge pick me up as they bid to avoid the dreaded drop with just 10 games remaining. Despite the club's current position, 19th, there has been no shortage of high-profile managers linked with the club in the last few days, but it's Rafa Benitez who is almost definitely set to be the manager who takes up the vacancy.