A draw at Chelsea would have represent a creditable return but head coach McClaren said prior to the game his team could not sit back and try to soak up pressure, but would go for all three points.
Yep it was a bold move, and most Toon supporters feared the worst.
Never mind the £80m spent on players ... when your coach/manager is as CLUELESS as McClaren ... you ALWAYS fear the worst.
This is what he said: "We are going there to win, and that's what we have always done all season.
"Maybe that's to our detriment that we have gone for the win. We can't sit back, we can't soak up pressure and hit teams on the break, we have to be quite front foot.
"That's how we play. It's not got us results and we are hoping to turn that around, starting tomorrow.
"Hiddink has come in and done a great job, settled the squad down, got them back to being hard to beat and grinding out results, 11 games unbeaten - I know they have drawn quite a few, but being hard to beat.
"They have got so many talented players, a front four that at any time can win games, so they are very dangerous opponents and it's a tough game for us.
"But really the focus is on us, not on Chelsea. The focus tomorrow for our players is not the opponents, it's ourselves and we have to get over a barrier to start picking up points away from home."
CHELSEA 5 NEWCASTLE UTD 1
21. Rob Elliot
22. Daryl Janmaat
27. Steven Taylor
2. Fabricio Coloccini
16. Rolando Aarons
12. Jonjo Shelvey
24. Cheick Tiote 67'
7. Moussa Sissoko
5. Georginio Wijnaldum 45'
25. Andros Townsend
45. Aleksandar Mitrovic 70'
Subs
4. Jack Colback 45'
15. Jamaal Lascelles 67'
17. Ayoze Perez
23. Henri Saivet
26. Karl Darlow
28. Seydou Doumbia 70'
29. Emmanuel Riviere