Panic stations should certainly not be taking hold, but Newcastle United have suffered yet another defeat in pre-season - this time a 1-0 loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach at St James' Park - and they just do not look quite right yet under Steve McClaren. Undoubtedly this was a step-up in opposition compared to what the Magpies have faced to date, but in all honesty Thorgan Hazard's brilliant winner was a rare bit of quality in an otherwise turgid affair. It was obvious for all of the 21,088 present at St James' that this was a pre-season match, because it's pace was practically non-existent. That's all of the Magpies' pre-season fixtures gone now and, with Southampton visiting the North East for the Premier League opener next weekend, McClaren is still searching for a defensive formula that works. Even the home debuts of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Chancel Mbemba and Georginio Wijnaldum could not lighten the spirits of a poor Newcastle display. With Tim Krul named as the Newcastle captain - with Fabricio Coloccini once again absent, strengthening further the suggestions that his Magpies career is over - Mbemba and Mitrovic were made to wait for their NUFC bows off the bench. Interestingly, Mehdi Abeid was also named as a substitute despite claims he is close to moving to Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany. Once McClaren was sat down - he walked to the dugout, signed a few autographs and then headed up into the stands to observe from there - the game started, and for the first 45 minutes it very much had the feel of a training match. The intensity was lacking, and neither side had any sort of urgency about them. It was the away side who enjoyed the first chance though, with the impressive Mahmoud Dahoud finishing off a good Borussia move by placing his effort wide after two minutes. It actually took Newcastle until the 10-minute mark to have a real chance, Gabriel Obertan breaking down the left before cutting back inside and firing an effort just wide from the edge of the box. With Newcastle struggling to get hold of the ball early on - Granit Xhaka in Borussia's midfield was controlling the game nicely - their next chance came from a Jack Colback corner, which Mike Williamson nodded over. In the 17th minute, the applause for Liam Sweeney and John Alder once again continued - with the Borussia fans also joining in. Although Raffael tried a couple of long-range efforts in the middle period of the first-half, both of which went harmlessly wide, very little else of note happened. Newcastle just could not string a decent number of passes together, even if they did press noticeably higher at St James' Park than they ever did under Alan Pardew or John Carver. Steven Taylor summed up Newcastle's first-half perfectly when he shouted at Colback to "keep it" when in possession, because the Magpies simply seemed incapable of doing so. In fact, the only time Newcastle fans really got enthused in during the opening 45 was to clap Mitrovic, Mbemba and Rolando Aarons warming up at St James' Park for the first time this season. However, the Magpies did end the half the stronger and had three chances in quick succession. First, in the 38th minute, Moussa Sissoko whipped a low ball in which Papiss Cisse glanced goalwards before Georginio Wijnaldum attempted to flick it past Yann Sommer in the Borussia goal. Unfortunately for Newcastle Sommer caught it, but it was a brilliant attempt. Then Colback's corner found Massadio Haidara on the edge of the box, and he lashed an effort towards Sommer, who saved well. Right on half-time, Haidara's cross was headed on by Wijnaldum, only for Cisse to nod just wide. Finally there seemed to be some life in the game. The start of the second-half was completely different for Newcastle though - finally there was some urgency about them, With Sissoko played through by Vurnon Anita, the Frenchman's lofted effort over Sommer cracked the bar and came back to Wijnaldum, but his shot went wide. In the 49th minute there were warning signs for Newcastle though. Patrick Herrmann easily ghosted past Mike Williamson, crossed the ball to Lars Stindl, but his curling effort was well saved by Tim Krul. In the 62nd minute, Mitrovic replaced Cisse and Mbemba came on for Obertan as they made their home debuts - and that brought about the biggest cheer of the day. Curiously, Mbemba slotted in at right-back on his St James' bow. Yet, just three minutes later, Newcastle were behind. Criminal Newcastle defending allowed Hazard - brother of Chelsea's Eden - to slot a lovely curled effort past Krul from the edge of the area. The Hazard family seem to just love getting the better of Newcastle United - Eden has punished them a few times in the past - and Thorgan's effort was delightful, even if the defending was shambolic. Mitrovic did nod a header just wide after 69 minutes, but Newcastle just couldn't get control of the game. Steven Taylor was harshly booked in the 72nd minute, when substitute Josip Drmic took what looked like a dive, and Xhaka's free-kick from 30 yards out hit the wall. Of the substitutes, Mitrovic looked the most lively on debut. A long ball in from Williamson was met by the big Serbian, but his looped header was easily collected by Sommer. It wasn't Newcastle who looked like scoring late on though, it was Borussia. In the 81st minute, a brilliant move from the visitors eventually saw Havard Nordvelt curl an effort just past Krul's far post. There was time for one more Mitrovic chance though - and how he should have buried it. With substitute Siem de Jong clean through on goal, he caressed the ball to Mitrovic - but the Serbian's shot from eight yards out lashed off the post when it would have been easier to score. And that just about summed up Newcastle's day. Things just aren't quite right at the Magpies yet - but they've run out of pre-season games to sort it out. Now they need to perform in the Premier League against Southampton. But are they up to it? Newcastle United (4-2-3-1): Krul; Janmaat (Aarons 62), Williamson, Taylor, Haidara; Anita (De Jong 75), Colback; Sissoko (Perez 81), Obertan (Mbemba 62), Wijnaldum; Cisse (Mitrovic 62) Subs Not Used: Darlow, Bigirimana, Ferguson, Lascelles, Abeid, Gouffran, Kemen, Booking: Taylor Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-2-2-2): Sommer; Wendt (Hazard 61), Christensen, Schulz, Jantschke (Nordvelt 76); Dahoud (Johnson 61), Xhaka (Korb 76); Traore (Ritter 84), Hermann (Dominguez 61); Stindl, Raffael (Drmic 61) Subs Not Used: Brouwers, Nordvelt, Sippel, Hrgota Goal: Hazard (65) Attendance: 21,088 For all the latest NUFC News, Views and Transfers make sure to follow WhatCulture.com/NUFC on Twitter and Facebook.