... with Mike Ashley set to play a leading role in the process despite having previously decided to take a step back from the day-to-day running of the club’s affairs.
Ashley has delegated responsibility for the key decisions relating to Newcastle to managing director Lee Charnley, but the sportswear magnate will adopt a more hands-on role in an attempt to engineer an improvement in the club’s current league position, which sees them rooted in the relegation zone with ten games remaining.
Charnley and Ashley will discuss McClaren’s position, with the strong expectation that the former England boss will be dismissed in the wake of yesterday’s acrimonious 3-1 home defeat to Bournemouth.
The result leaves Newcastle a point adrift of safety, with McClaren’s position being further undermined by the chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” and “Steve McClaren – you’re taking us down” that peppered the second half of the game.
Charnley watched his side’s latest setback from his seat in the directors’ box, but opted not to make a conclusive decision on McClaren’s position last night. Instead, he left St James’ Park after the head coach had already departed, and is not understood to have spoken to him in person.
When asked whether he had met Charnley after the game, McClaren said: “I’ve not had time. We always speak, and we will speak. I’m being brutally honest with you, and I’ll be brutally honest with people upstairs. That’s the way to be.”
Both Ashley and Charnley had wanted to give McClaren every opportunity to turn things around, but it is hard to see how they can continue to maintain the status quo in the wake of yesterday’s events.
However, they will be reluctant to dismiss the 54-year-old without a replacement already in place. Newcastle travel to league leaders Leicester City a week tomorrow, and while their recent away form suggests they will struggle at the King Power Stadium, they are not in a position where they can afford to write off any game.
A number of high-profile managers are currently out of work, and the likes of David Moyes, Brendan Rodgers, Nigel Pearson and Rafael Benitez would all appeal. However, it is debatable whether any of those bosses would be willing to take over at St James’ Park, even on a temporary basis until the end of the season, with the team in such a parlous position.
Appointing Harry Redknapp as a short-term trouble-shooter would be an alternative option, but it is not thought that any of the current backroom staff would be regarded as a viable fix in a caretaker role.