Newcastle United
The single most self-destructive team in league, Newcastle was cruising to a comfortable mid-table finish last season when they fired relatively successful manager Alan Pardew for no real reason other than fans didn’t seem to want a Londoner managing a northern team. Pardew’s firing led to a final third of the season in which Newcastle simply kept losing, and losing badly. Their safety in the league wasn’t assured until the last day. The goal this year for proper northern manager Steve McClaren will be to erase the sense that his team is a laughingstock.
Stars: Despite the calamity of spring 2015, there are several good players on Newcastle, but really this season it’s all about McClaren. There remains a question of whether the manager is talented or has simply lucked into some good teams along the way. We shall see.
