If you were to name just one set of Premier League fans who sincerely need their collective spirits lifted in the run up to the 2015/16 season, the St. James’ Park faithful would likely arrive as the most obvious group.
Despite the near sell-out crowds week-in-week-out on Tyneside last term, Newcastle’s output towards the end of the campaign was quite simply atrocious. Mike Ashley’s notoriously cheap boardroom tactics really came back to bite the Magpies and almost cost them their top flight status.
The players themselves didn’t quite seem like they were truly giving their all out on the pitch, while recently dismissed boss, John Carver, looked completely out of his depth with every passing result, and as Newcastle famously went on an unbelievable eight-game losing streak between March and May of last year the Toon Army have every reason to expect better as their side gear up to embark on another Premier League campaign.
However, now that the determined Tynesiders have finally replaced Alan Pardew with a recognised figurehead in the dug-out for next term – the ever controversial choice of Steve McClaren – the Magpies do at least seem to be trying to head in the right direction.
The former FC Twente manager, and Eredivisie winner, is supposedly looking to bring his inside knowledge of Dutch football to the North East next season, and as PSV’s Georginio Wijnaldum has already signed for Newcastle for a reported fee of around £14.5m, it’s all starting to look slightly more positive for the St. James’ faithful ahead of the new campaign all of a sudden.
So then, will McClaren successfully usher in a new Dutch renaissance on Tyneside next term, or will the classic money saving tactics behind the scenes only serve to dampen the club’s fate throughout the upcoming 2015/16 campaign?
First things first, the signing of Wijnaldum certainly seems like a promising one for the Newcastle fans at this stage in the proceedings. The 24-year-old successfully led PSV to title glory last season as club captain and an all-round leader out on the pitch. He therefore seems like just the character McClaren needs to lift his side up from the public debacles that took place on Tyneside last term.
Wijnaldum is a creative midfielder with a sharp eye for goal and a real ability to link up with his team-mates from all over the pitch. The Dutch international is also not scared to get involved in the ugly side of the game when necessary, putting his foot in when it counts across the middle of the park and breaking up play just when his side require it most.
Newcastle have, arguably, signed a real talent in the 24-year-old, and with the likes of Tim Krul, Daryl Janmaat and hopefully Siem de Jong – if he can ever return to full fitness – making up the numbers within the Dutch contingency in the North East this summer, perhaps Newcastle will slowly enter the new campaign under a whole new identity if a few more signings from the Eredivisie can be completed this transfer window.
Pardew had previously overseen a French wave of talent wash over St. James’ during his spell in the North East, and whilst it certainly petered out somewhat after the selling off of players such as Yohan Cabaye and Mathieu Debuchy, the plan initially worked wonders for the Tynesiders.
However, whilst McClaren may admittedly prove useful for his inside knowledge of the Dutch game, he still isn’t exactly the most inspiring choice Newcastle could have gone with for next season. This is the man who was recently sacked from Derby County in the Championship after all, and, as England fans will certainly remember, the last few major stints McClaren has held down in this country haven’t quite gone according to plan.
As serious further squad investment is still required on Tyneside before the Magpies can truly call themselves a force once more, don’t expect Newcastle to be pulling up trees any time soon in the Premier League without proper strengthening.
It’s all well and good signing promising Dutch attackers to aid the front line at St. James’ next season, but if McClaren fails to address his side’s major defensive concerns ahead of the 2015/16 campaign, Newcastle fans will likely be feeling the frustration once again next term, whether or not the new Dutch renaissance on Tyneside ever manages to successfully take off.
The signs, however, do at least carry with them a fair degree of positivity ahead of the new season, which is something the somewhat embarrassing performances of last term really didn’t offer in abundance.
