Meeting Steve McClaren's Newcastle Backroom Staff - Everything You Need To Know

2. Ian Cathro - Assistant Head Coach

Steve McClaren finally found his Newcastle United assistant boss at the fourth time of asking, with 28-year-old former Valencia coach Ian Cathro eventually accepting the position as the Magpies€™ No 2. With Phil Neville, Bolo Zenden and Steve Round having already rejected approaches from the Magpies to become McClaren€™s number two, Cathro emerged as the club€™s top target. Cathro (pictured above, centre) has been appointed as McClaren€™s number two (alongside Paul Simpson), with the former Brechin City and Forfar Athletic player seen as one of the most-exciting coaches in Europe. Made Dundee United youth academy director by the age of 22, Cathro became Rio Ave assistant in 2012 - before moving to Valencia, where he left this summer after guiding the Spanish club to an impressive fourth-placed finish in La Liga. A man who believes in technical football above all else, Cathro is extremely ambitious and he will look to work with McClaren to upgrade every aspect of the Magpies squad. Valencia and Rio Ave improved immeasurably during his time at both clubs, so McClaren could well have stumbled across a real coaching gem - and possibly even his eventual successor because Cathro has made it clear he intends to be a manager himself one day...