Newcastle United have officially unveiled Steve McClaren as their permanent head coach a full six months after Alan Pardew left for Crystal Palace. The former England, Middlesbrough and Derby County boss had been the favourite for the role ever since Pardew left the Magpies for the Eagles at the turn of the year and has penned a three-year-deal at St James' Park. McClaren's contract has the option for another five years which could see him in charge for the next eight years. And the 54-year-old's remit includes a top eight Premier League finish and a cup win. However, having reportedly turned the Magpies down on two occasions already in 2015 - first immediately after Pardew left in January and then with three matches left of the season - McClaren has finally agreed to take up the position having been sacked as Derby County boss last month. The 54-year-old takes over the reins from John Carver, who won just three matches in 2015 having taken over as caretaker and then interim head coach from Pardew. McClaren has reportedly been promised a "transfer war chest" of £60 million to spend this summer and he will now go about discussing potential targets with chief scout Graham Carr, who he has worked with previously. Ex-Three Lions boss McClaren - who was infamously dubbed the "Wally with the Brolly" after appearing on the touchline of England's 3-2 loss to Croatia at Wembley with an umbrella - will also decide on the makeup of his backroom staff in the coming days following Carver and Steve Stone's sackings. The fixtures for the 2015-16 Premier League season will be released next Wednesday and it is then that McClaren will find out the opposition for his first competitive match in charge on the weekend of August 8th and 9th. His first pre-season fixture in charge though will be against his former Middlesbrough reserve-team coach Malcolm Crosby's Gateshead side on Friday, July 10th.
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NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
