THANKS to the clarification provided by managing director Lee Charnley in January, Steve McClaren’s remit as Newcastle United head coach could hardly be clearer.

Coach the players on the training ground, organise them effectively and develop tactics that enable them to perform to their best, and elicit a higher standard of performance than those who went before him. Three games in, and there are already signs of him living up to his billing.

While Saturday’s resilient display against Manchester United might not have secured Newcastle’s first win of the season, it nevertheless featured a degree of tactical planning and execution that was impossible to discern under John Carver’s chaotic stewardship in the second half of last season. Alan Pardew might have overseen a 1-0 win at Old Trafford when Manchester United were living through the dark days of David Moyes, but it is equally hard to imagine the current Crystal Palace manager ensuring his players were as well drilled as they were at the weekend.

McClaren, on the other hand, has spent 20 years developing a glowing reputation for his abilities on the training ground, and while his career has featured downs as well as ups, it is worth remembering that Sir Alex Ferguson once touted him as his natural successor. For all that Louis van Gaal has achieved in the game, it was the man in the visitors’ dug-out on Saturday that boasted a formation that functioned effectively.

Aware that the current Manchester United side is chronically short of pace, McClaren had clearly instructed his centre-halves not to drop too deep and be fearful of balls played in behind them. The rest of the side were told to drop off when their opponents had the ball in their own half, but press quickly once they advanced into the midfield third. The result was that after a frantic start, Manchester United’s players quickly ran out of room and ideas.

“A lot has changed,” said Steven Taylor, who returned to the starting line-up to produce an excellent display at centre-half. “The style, the training regime, everything really.

“It’s a whole new look to Newcastle, and it’s been needing that – a bit of a fresh look to things. The main thing for me is that he (McClaren) has come in and given the lads confidence, and everyone has had a clean slate. There are new methods here now.”

A new methodology is all well and good of course, but you still need the players to be able carry out the tactical instructions. Seven days earlier, Newcastle had been all over the place in a 2-0 defeat to Swansea that bore worrying parallels to a number of last season’s capitulations. A week on, however, and the Magpies were changed beyond all recognition.

Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini displayed a level of resolve and concentration that had been completely absent at the Liberty Stadium, while Chancel Mbemba proved he boasts versatility as well as pace and strength as he ably deputised for Daryl Janmaat at right-back.

Vurnon Anita produced one of his best displays in a Newcastle shirt as he hassled and harried relentlessly at the base of midfield, and while Ayoze Perez and Gabriel Obertan might not have been able to offer much of an attacking threat from their positions on the flank, their industry and commitment were still key factors in the Magpies’ win.

“It was a big step forward,” said McClaren. “You were asking people like Obertan, (Florian) Thauvin, who has just come in, and Perez, who I thought was excellent, to run up and down that line all game long.

“They had to do more running than anyone else in the team, but to get that kind of result, you need that from them. They’ve shown they can do it, and that’s what they’re going to need to do now.”

Manchester United will feel things would have been different had their dominance of the opening 20 minutes been rewarded with a goal, and Newcastle were undeniably forced to ride their luck early on.

An out-of-sorts Wayne Rooney had a goal chalked off for offside when he was probably level with the last defender, while Tim Krul made fine saves to deny Juan Mata and Memphis Depay.

Krul’s best stop of the afternoon saw him save substitute Javier Hernandez’s low shot with his legs, but that intervention came in the 80th minute and, in between times, Newcastle’s backline rarely looked like being breached.

Chris Smalling headed a corner against the post in the final minute, but a goal at that stage would have been extremely cruel on the visitors.

“I thought the defending was heroic at times,” said McClaren. “That’s a big step forward for us. It was important to keep a clean sheet, and that performance is a real platform. In the end, we might even have nicked a win.”

Newcastle’s attacking threat was limited, but in Aleksandar Mitrovic, who made his first start, they boasted a formidable physical presence who never allowed Manchester United’s defenders to settle.

Running himself into the ground in the lone-striker role, the £12m signing from Anderlecht looks a hugely exciting addition, and the first-half header that crashed against the crossbar from an Mbemba cross would have resulted in quite some goal had it been an inch or two lower.

“He is a top player,” said Krul. “He’s just as aggressive in training, and you need that. He needs to understand when to do it and when not to. That will come with experience, but I would rather have it than not.”