Newcastle United slipped to a new low for the season after suffering an exit from the League Cup at the hands of a Championship team.
The north-east outfit were taking on Sheffield Wednesday in the third round of the League Cup. Despite their poor form under Steve McClaren, Newcastle were expected to get a win. Even McClaren saw this game as an ideal opportunity to get some form and confidence under the belt. However, a 1-0 defeat courtesy of a second-half goal fromMcGugan saw manager McClaren term the current situation as a crisis.
The former England manager has been defiant in recent weeks despite seeing his team suffered four straight losses. In fact, the only victory achieved by Newcastle under McClaren has been the 4-1 success against Northampton Town, who play in the bottom tier of English league football, a few weeks ago. He does not get any easier for the Geordies since they travel to Chelsea, who finally appear to have found form themselves with three consecutive victories in all competitions. McClaren says that he is hoping that the team has finally hit the bottom as far as form is concerned.
The defeat is made even worse by the fact that Sheffield Wednesday made 10 changes from their previous line-up.”Is the job harder than I thought? Absolutely. Without a doubt.People say it’s a crisis and it’s getting very close to it. We deserve to be criticised.The only people who can do anything about it are in that dressing room. We have to be fighters, not victims.How far do you go down before you turn it around? Do you say that’s enough? For me, that’s enough. We need results. There is trepidation but it’s a great game for us on Saturday,” said the former England boss.