STEVE McCLAREN insists he will not walk away from Newcastle United – but admits he does not know whether the club’s hierarchy will continue to back him in the wake of today’s humiliating 3-1 home defeat to Bournemouth.

McClaren’s position as head coach is hanging by a thread after his own supporters taunted him with chants of “You’re getting sacked in the morning” and sang “Steve McClaren – you’re taking us down”.

With Newcastle a point from safety with just ten more games to play, Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley are set to discuss McClaren’s future within the next 24 hours.

David Moyes, Brendan Rodgers and Nigel Pearson have all been discussed as potential replacements for the former England boss – all three managers are currently out of work – but McClaren is adamant he will not be walking away despite today’s events.

“Would I quit? No way,” said McClaren. “That’s for other people to decide. I don’t do that. I have enough experience. I’ve been through this, with chants like there has been today, quite a few times. That’s the perils of being a manager, and especially of this team, this season.”

McClaren was then asked whether his superiors continued to back him, and he replied: “You’d have to ask them. I can’t control that, I can only control what we do.

“It’s a four-team league now (at the bottom of the table) and we play everyone around us in that four-team league. It’s up to us. But if we play like that, we’re not going to stay up. They know that and the crowd know that. We accept the criticism.”

Newcastle were outplayed throughout, with Bournemouth scoring through a Steven Taylor own goal, and strikes from Josh King and Charlie Daniels.

Ayoze Perez scored for the Magpies, but McClaren admits his side’s performance was completely unacceptable and will result in relegation if it is repeated in the games that remain.

“Can we get out of this situation? Not if we keep playing like that,” he said. “That’s being brutally honest – that’s not good enough.

“Once the first goal went in, a lucky deflection, we didn’t respond very well. I think there was too much of an eagerness then, and a loss of discipline, and we got punished.

“We understand and will fully take all the criticism that we’ll receive. We accept it all. I’m as frustrated and angry as the next person, and as the supporters who were watching that.

“That’s been the frustration of the team all season – you get good spells, you get bad spells, but today was poor in terms of how we defended.

“The thing that frustrated me most was our football. We gave the ball away too cheaply, too easily. And there weren’t enough characters out there. We have to find a solution to that on a more regular basis.

“You look at the last six games we’ve had at home – three wins, two draws and a last-minute defeat – so to produce a performance like that is baffling. That’s my feeling at the moment.”