McClaren vows to fight on as angry fans turn on boss
‘I won’t quit. No way. You’ll have to ask the board’
STEVE McClaren says he will not quit as manager of Newcastle United but admits he does not know if he will survive after a wretched defeat at St James’ Park in which supporters demanded his sacking.
Fans turned on the former England boss in poisonous fashion during yesterday’s 3-1 loss to fellow strugglers Bournemouth, singing ‘Steve McClaren, he’s taking us down’.
Their ninth defeat in 12 matches leaves the Magpies second from bottom of the Premier League table and one point adrift of 17th-placed Sunderland.
McClaren denies he has lost the dressing-room – his players released an ill-timed statement before the game saying they backed him – but he concedes that a repeat of such performances will send them down to the Championship.
When asked post-match if he would now quit, McClaren said: ‘No way. That is for other people to decide. I’ve had chants like this quite a few times. But I can understand that (the fans’ reaction). I can understand the frustrations, damn right I do.
‘I’ve thought that all season. There have been ups and downs, and I talk about this team being the most frustrating I’ve ever had.’
Asked if he expected to be sacked if he didn’t resign, he added: ‘You will have to ask them (the club’s hierarchy), I can’t control that.
‘We can’t stay up if we keep playing like that. To be brutally honest that was not good enough. We’ve been in the bottom three all season, just about. We’ve tried this, that and everything. I believe there are enough performances in that team – in the last 10 games – to get us out of trouble.’