Steve McClaren has told Newcastle United’s official website (reported by Graham Porter of ‘The Mag“) that his players cannot be sure of their starting places after a dismal performance against West Ham on Monday night.
The Magpies looked completely hopeless and McClaren used his post-match interview as a chance to fire a warning shot at his players. He told interviewers:
Anyone could be a bit worried (about keeping their place in the team).
Newcastle had very few, if any stand-out performers in the game which means Ayoze Perez and Siem de Jong, who both had lively cameos, could make an easy return to the first team after absences.
McClaren said the stadium has to be a ‘fortress’ for the game against Watford, but the early signs do not suggest that this will be the case, even more so when you take into account the fact that Watford have defended admirably under Quique Flores this season.
Newcastle fans may be pleased to see that he is willing to drop underperformers as the likes of Papiss Cisse were non-existent on Monday night.
