Alan Shearer launches blistering attacking on Newcastle stars

The Magpies are second from bottom of the Premier League following six games and are yet to record a Premier League win under new boss Steve McClaren.

Newcastle are also the lowest scorers in the league having bagged just three goals in their opening six games, which is a particular cause of concern for their record scorer.

“Just three goals in six games is alarming,” began the Newcastle legend in his column for The Sun (£).

“Right-back Daryl Janmaat is our biggest threat going forward — what does that tell you?

“Papiss Cisse had one great chance and scuffed it wide. Other than that, he didn’t really have a lot to do.

“He clearly doesn’t want to be at the club.”

Shearer’s revelation that Cisse does not want to be at the club comes hot on the heels of claims that the Newcastle dressing room was ‘poison’.

However, Shearer’s criticism did not stop there. He has yet to be impressed by the highly rated and recently recruited Florian Thauvin.

“Florian Thauvin is a young boy and it can take time for players to get up to speed with the Prem. He’s had one good game — against League Two Northampton in the Capital One Cup,” the former England captain continued.

“There is no excuse for a lack of work rate and, from games I have seen, he hasn’t been past enough people, got enough balls into the box or had enough shots.”

McClaren’s men currently have a goal difference of minus six and Shearer feels that club captain Fabricio Coloccini remains a weak link.

“At the back, we are also all over the place. Fabricio Coloccini and Chancel Mbemba got bullied against Watford.

“At times, Coloccini does not like playing against big, strong centre-forwards. You can see the centre-half position is going to be a problem.”

Shearer’s analysis is hardly pretty reading if you’re a Newcastle fan but it is pretty hard to pick holes in it. Mike Ashley backed his new manager in the summer transfer window to the tune of £48 million on Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Florian Thauvin and Chancel Mbemba.

Manifestly, Newcastle have a team and a squad that are of a much higher quality that their current lowly league position. However, if this is an issue of player desire then the appointment of McClaren could prove to be a mistake – he is a supreme coach but is hardly known for his strong man management skills.