Steve McClaren looks set to be unveiled as the new Newcastle United head coach within the next 48 hours, barring any minor hitches or technicalities. Rumours have been wide spread for several months that the former England boss would be the man to succeed John Carver. We decided to take a look at how Newcastle would fair under McClaren’s reign, using the hit computer game Football Manager 2015.
Changes
Using the editor, we had to make a few subtle changes in order to make the campaign as similar to the upcoming 2015/16 campaign as possible. Facundo Ferreyra returned to Shaktar Donetsk, while all those loaned out returned to the club – including Sylvain Marveaux and Nottingham Forest duo Jamaal Lascelles and Karl Darlow. Ryan Taylor and Jonas Gutierrez were released, while Sammy Ameobi was kept having received a contract extension in real-life. We then moved Queens Park Rangers, Hull City and Burnley to the Championship, while AFC Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich City replaced them. Steve McClaren was appointed as manager, while John Carver reverted to his position as assistant manager. Lee Clark and Pavel Srnicek joined the coaching staff.
Here is how the senior squad looked after our changes:
Transfers
McClaren’s first signing as Newcastle manager was River Plate’s Leonel Vangioni for £2.2million. The Argentine is natural at left-back, as well as left-midfield – a first-team quality player to rival Massadio Haidara and Yoan Gouffran at either position. The next arrival was Crystal Palace left-back Joel Ward for £6.5million, followed by Frankfurt’s Carlos Zambrano. McClaren clearly identifying our defence as the biggest weakness.
Haris Vuckic (on loan) and Lubo Satka were the only players to depart the club in the first window.
January Window
Newcastle reached the January window with a treatment room full, much like in real-life, and with Mike Williamson & Joel Ward unhappy due to a lack of first-team football. But McClaren had taken the Magpies up to 8th place and had performed a miracle – Newcastle’s goal difference wasn’t negative! It was 0.
They had elected not to sign any players in January, though several youth players were loaned out.
League Table
Newcastle finished the season in 7th place, just seven points behind Manchester City. A positive goal difference (1) is also worth noting – the defensive signings at the beginning of the season obviously played their part.
Unfortunately, Newcastle were unable to string a cup run together. Losing out to Premier League opposition in both the FA Cup and Capital One Cup in the early stages.
Ayoze Perez and Remy Cabella finished as the club’s top scorers with 10 league goals each. Moussa Sissoko was next up with 9, closely followed by Papiss Cisse with 7.
Summer Window
In the summer window, heading into the second season, Steve McClaren recruited four fresh faces – Kim Jin-Su, Muhamed Besic, Thiago Motta and Foday Nabay – to bolster his midfield, while Kim provided depth at left-back. At the same time, he allowed several youngsters deemed surplus to requirements to leave the club on free transfers, while Callum Roberts was loaned out to Accrington Stanley. Mike Williamson and Sylvain Marveaux had not done enough in McClaren’s eyes to warrant new deals and were released. The most notable exits of the summer were strikers Emmanuel Riviere and Ayoze Perez, who left for a combined £14million.
January
Heading into the January transfer window, Newcastle were in seventh place and in a strong financial position, meaning sales were not necessary for McClaren to invest.
Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka and Brazilian starlet Fabio Santos arrived on Tyneside, while Sammy Ameobi, Massadio Haidara and Shane Ferguson were allowed to leave the club permanently – much to the disappointment of the computer generated fans.
League Table
In the end, Newcastle did not progress in the league. They finished in seventh place, but McClaren was not at the reigns. Despite the Magpies climbing up to fourth by the end of February, a dismal run of seven defeats on the bounce saw McClaren sacked and Ian Holloway appointed – an appointment typical of Mike Ashley’s reign.
Outcome
Football Manager predicts Steve McClaren to bring stability to Newcastle, although they did not expect the former England boss to replicate his cup form of years gone by. Back-to-back top half finishes is definitely an improvement though. In the end, he was sacked and Ian Holloway was appointed, but lets hope that is not the actual outcome of his appointment.
