Monday 30 November 2015 06:15, UK
Steve McClaren has called on Mike Ashley and the Newcastle board to trust him to lead his struggling team out of the relegation zone.
The Magpies currently sit 19th in the league table after a humbling 5-1 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
That defeat came on the heels of a 3-0 loss at home to Leicester City the previous week which sparked a training ground bust-up with some of his players as McClaren made it clear he expected more out of them.
Despite the team's disappointing start to the season, head coach McClaren remains convinced Newcastle's fortunes will turn around but believes stability is vital if that is to happen.
"I think that's the key thing, that there's no panic," said McClaren when asked if continued backing from Newcastle's board would prove pivotal to Premier League survival.
"If there were eight games to go then people would, but we're not.
"And that's where experience tells. We know we're doing the right things every day, we know we're doing the right things, I know through experience.
"Everybody knows and everybody can see that. In time that will turn around and work, at the present moment it's not, we're having huge disappointments that I hope will toughen us up and make us stronger in the long run."
Yannick Bolasie and James McArthur both scored twice with Wilfried Zaha also on target as Palace hammered Newcastle.
Papiss Cisse opened the scoring but the visitors crumbled after McArthur's deflected equaliser, with former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew putting one over his old club.
McClaren refused to discuss his January transfer window plans, insisting plotting mid-season signings would still be premature at this stage.
"Well we can't do that," said McClaren. "At the present moment the next games, Liverpool, then Spurs, then after that then after that - we've got games before January.
"And we need to get to work and start winning games. We're in a relegation battle, and we've got to make sure that we're right into that.
"The players lose heart easily: it's not rocket science, everyone can see it and that's what's happening.
"We're getting setbacks and we're not reacting well enough, and that's what we need to turn around. The players have their own individual motivation and we have to draw that out.
"We have to stay calm, keep doing the right things and keep delivering the right messages and keep saying, 'You've got to do this, you've got to do that'.
"We lose when we stop doing our jobs when disappointment hits us. We can't have that: you've got to keep, keep, keep, keep, keep doing your job."
