As Steve McClaren starts his career as Newcastle United head coach, what are the most pressing issues for him to deal with straight away?

FIX A WOEFULLY THIN SQUAD

With the summer departures of Ryan Taylor, Jonas Gutierrez, Jak Alnwick and Adam Campbell adding to the January exits of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Davide Santon, Newcastle’s squad is lacking in all departments.

They barely had enough defenders to cover the positions during the second half of the season following injuries to Steven Taylor, Paul Dummett and suspension to Fabricio Coloccini, and the club will not wish to see a repeat of that next season.

The Northern Echo:
OUT: Ryan Taylor

John Carver, before his dismissal from the club, spoke about this summer being one of the biggest in Newcastle’s history, and McClaren needs to hit the ground running.

While Graham Carr, the Magpies’ chief scout, will work alongside chief executive Lee Charnley on recruiting players, McClaren will have also have a say in the process having been added to the club's board of directors.

Recruitment isn’t just about statistics, it’s about bringing in the right type of player to the club. McClaren will need to make this point as loudly as possible.

Karl Darlow and Jamaal Lascelles will come in and will be familiar faces to McClaren having worked with the pair during his brief stint as Forest manager in 2011.

The likes of Moussa Sissoko and Daryl Janmaat will be targets for other clubs, and their decisions on their future will largely be dictated by the transfer incomings.

The Northern Echo: PROTEST: A so-called 'oustmobile' outside the St James' Park as Newcastle United supporters take part in a demonstration against club owner Mike Ashley outside the ground before the match.

REPAIR THE DISENCHANTMENT IN THE STANDS

AS head coach, McClaren will be the figurehead of the club, and it will be up to him to attempt to repair the fractured relationship between Newcastle United and its supporters. How he goes about that is critical.

Protests were ongoing throughout the second half of last season, with little signs of them abating ahead of the coming season.

The supporters demand change at the very top, but since Mike Ashley confirmed before the last game of the season that he has no intention of selling up until the Magpies win something, the status quo will prevail for the foreseeable future.

While the more cynical supporter would see through any attempts at bridge-building by McClaren as simply lip service, getting off to a good start and winning games will ease the pressure all round.

The Northern Echo: John Carver, right, has every intention of applying for the head coach job at Newcastle

GET THE COACHING SETUP RIGHT

MANY of Newcastle’s failings last season stemmed from systemic errors, badly set-up teams, awful defending from set-pieces and baffling strategic calls.

As an organiser and a strategist, McClaren will bring some new-found solidity to the Magpies, but he will be only as good as his coaches. Much of his success on the continent, McClaren has admitted himself, is owed to the work of his coaches, and throughout his career as a manager he has surrounded himself with the right people.

While it is not expected that former Manchester United coach Steve Round will come into the set-up, Paul Simpson will be among his number and it will be down to the coaches to make sure that Newcastle United’s shortcomings last season do not rear their ugly heads again next term.

The Northern Echo:

TIE UP CONTRACTS

EIGHT of Newcastle’s squad will be out of contract next summer and while it will not be McClaren’s decision to make on their futures, those loose ends need to be tied up quite quickly.

Captain Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor and Mike Williamson are the main names in a list that also includes Rolando Aarons and Gabriel Obertan, and with those players free to talk to other clubs in the final year of their deals, it is imperative that Newcastle tie their most important players down to new contracts or face a season of uncertainty.

BUILD A BRAND OF FOOTBALL THAT CAN EXCITE

NO MANAGER since Sir Bobby Robson, it could be argued, has managed to consistently deliver an attractive style of football at Newcastle United.

While it is a misconception that Newcastle supporters demand attacking football, they do expect 100% effort from the squad, and that simply has not happened in recent years.

McClaren has a reputation for building hard-working squads, but has not always produced exciting football. During the season where Middlesbrough got to the UEFA Cup final, one of the finest moments in their history, a Boro fan hurled his season ticket at McClaren in protest at the stiflingly boring football his side had ground out.

But since Newcastle fans have had to put up with turgid fare year after year, any improvement in their team will be welcomed with open arms on Tyneside.