Newcastle 1-2 Watford: Odion Ighalo double piles the pressure on Steve McClaren's side

Steve McClaren said that managing Newcastle during the early weeks of the season was like heading for a car crash — but he did not expect to be sifting through the wreckage of another defeat at home to relegation candidates Watford.

It is McClaren’s side, however, who are heading for the Championship on

the evidence of six winless — and fairly joyless — matches.

 

But credit must also go to Watford’s two-goal hero Odion Ighalo, who took his tally for the calendar year to 20 — one less than Newcastle have managed in the Premier League in the same period

 

McClaren, meanwhile, can only look on with envy at a player of Ighalo’s predatory instinct.

 

He was forced to start Papiss Cisse, the striker who showed a lack of respect for his boss by failing to show for an arranged one-on-one meeting during the international break and then gave an uninterested performance during Monday’s 2-0 defeat at West Ham.

 

How has McClaren been left so short that Cisse is his only option? The Senegal forward lasted 45 forgettable minutes before being hooked at half-time. By that point Newcastle were trailing 2-0. If anything, the scoreline flattered the woeful hosts. Watford were simply quicker, stronger, fitter and better organised.

Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley sent an email to supporters earlier this month in which he trumpeted the £52million invested during the summer.

But the transfer committee of Charnley, chief scout Graham Carr and, of course, McClaren, have left this team desperately short of goals.

 

Indeed, former Newcastle manager and captain Alan Shearer tweeted: ‘Even I won one in six! NUFC awful again. Charlie Austin looks cheap at £15m now.’