In the wake of Newcastle’s superb away victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Magpies’ legend Alan Shearer has praised head coach Steve McClaren for his game-changing substitutions.
Newcastle trailed 1-0 to Eric Dier’s first half goal with 20 minutes remaining at White Hart Lane and, with his team struggling to threaten Hugo Lloris’ goal, McClaren decided to throw caution to the wind by introducing forward pair Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez.
The 54-year-old’s bold decision immediately paid off as the talented duo grabbed a goal each to seal a dramatic second half turnaround and secure three indispensable points to pull United out of the relegation zone.
Shearer feels that McClaren – who had been under intense scrutiny prior to Newcastle’s recent victories over Liverpool and Spurs – deserves credit for his role in Sunday’s triumph.
Speaking in his weekly blog for Coral, the club’s record goalscorer said:
“Mitrovic came off the bench to score the equaliser.”
Steve McClaren has come in for criticism but you have to say well done to him for making the changes.
“The substitutes Mitrovic and Perez both got the goals.”
Shearer admits that he had questioned Newcastle’s character following their meek capitulations against Leicester City and Crystal Palace in November, however, the legendary striker was impressed by United’s newfound spirit at White Hart Lane:
“It was another fantastic win for Newcastle, this time on the road at Tottenham and they deserve a lot of credit for that.
“They have taken a lot of stick and people, including me, have questioned their character recently, rightly so because it was justified.
“They went 1-0 down but they did not fold.
It was a great illustration of team character because they were not playing a side in the bottom three, it was a team who could have potentially gone into the top four with a win.
