Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren has praised the passion and desire of his resurrected side, following Sunday’s immense 2-1 victory against the sturdy Tottenham Hotspur.
It looked bleak for the former England manager a few weeks back, as various media outlets reported that the two games against Liverpool and Spurs would decide his fate on Tyneside.
But, to everyone’s surprise, the Magpies emerged victorious against both of the ‘big guns’ and McClaren now looks safe at the helm.
In his post-match interview (quotes from Sky Sports), a buoyant McClaren said the following:
There was such a determination among the players not to lead down the normal path of losing the game. The response in the second half was fantastic.
There was so much going on at half-time. Robbie Elliot, Fabricio Coloccini but, to be fair, all of them were noisy. We couldn’t shut them up and they took it on board.
The gaffer also praised the team’s ability to provide consistency for the Geordie faithful:
We’ve had difficult times but we’ve asked for consistency and the last two weeks have provided that, on the back of a lot of criticism.
Sunday’s victory meant that Newcastle had recorded back-to-back wins for the first time in over a year, and the Magpies have now jumped out of the relegation zone and into 15th place, above last season’s champions, Chelsea!
With another vital clash against fellow relegation fighters Aston Villa coming up next week, this could be the turning point that Newcastle needed.
