“I do think our shortcomings have been addressed,” said McClaren ahead of Newcastle’s trip to Everton on Wednesday night. “I’m delighted with what we brought in. The squad is a lot stronger than what it was at the beginning of the month.
“We needed a striker who can score goals and plays on the shoulder a little bit more and stretches defences. In Doumbia we’ve got that now.
‘We needed that passer in midfield and Shelvey can certainly pass. I wanted more speed on the wing and we’ve got that with Andros. So we’re getting there.
“I don’t think there ever has been an excuse [for bad start. I don’t think you’ve ever given me chance of an excuse, in all the games and weeks that we’ve had. I didn’t expect any before, and I definitely don’t expect any now.
“We’re just trying to improve and get better, and win games. We have to play at 100% intensity for the full 90 minutes to be in with a chance of winning. That is difficult, that is hard, so we needed to improve our squad and our team, in terms of quality and character.
“We needed to change the make-up of things, and I think we’ve done that. I certainly hope and expect that we’ll be a better team once the players have gelled together and we start moving forward again.”
McClaren is also confident Newcastle will be among the biggest spenders in the Premier League again in the summer, as long as they stay in it.
“We wanted to take this club forward,” he added. “You're absolutely right, that will only progress through investment. Really it's just the beginning, it's not the end, it's only the beginning.”
- Telegraph