Newcastle’s attacking remains as toothless as ever, and at the other end, the Magpies continue to be prone to the kind of catastrophic defensive collapses that have seen them ship a succession of quick goals on a number of occasions in the last 18 months.
There is a mental fragility to this Newcastle side that is proving extremely difficult to eradicate, and it is hard not to conclude that Mike Ashley’s policy of signing young, relatively inexperienced players from overseas is creating a chronic lack of leadership and Premier League nous within the squad.
McClaren has hinted at as much in some of his recent press briefings, and is understood to have raised his concerns in his recent meetings with Charnley and Graham Carr.
Whether his feelings result in a change of tactics will not become clear until Newcastle re-enter the transfer market in the January window, so.
“If you look at the history, you’d certainly have to say we’ve lost a fair few games,” said the former Middlesbrough and England boss. “How do you set about changing that? Well, the first thing is that you have to work hard on the training ground, then you have to perform on the pitch.
“We’ve challenged them to perform for 95 minutes like they did for 45 minutes against Chelsea and Man City. That’s how you win.
“At the present moment, we’re getting little setbacks that are causing us to disintegrate. They’re shattering the confidence and belief. Everyone can see that.
“We need to address that, but I really believe there’s a win around the corner. We don’t quite know where, but once it happens and we get the monkey off our backs and the shackles are released, this team will really move forward. That’s what we believe.”