Steve McClaren is edging closer to becoming the new head coach at Newcastle United, especially after the club informed that their interest to Patrick Vieira was ended. And talk of Patrick Vieira sliding out of contention means that McClaren comes into contention again after snubbing Newcastle twice already this year.

One online poll in a local newspaper even gave Vieira a 92 per cent approval rating and fans were excited by the prospect of his appointment. And it seems that they should welcome the less-wanted coach to the Premier League side.

Vieira is highly regarded at City where he is on a 12-month rolling contract worth around £1.5m a year. In the first place, it appears City would want Newcastle to pay that amount in compensation. However, as revealed by Sportsmail on Monday, no talks had been scheduled between the club and the former Arsenal midfielder, despite reports suggesting otherwise. Indeed, Newcastle’s approach did not extend beyond a tentative phone call to Vieira’s representatives, who were willing to listen to their proposal.

Reported by the Guardian: “Those in the Newcastle hierarchy championing McClaren’s cause are concerned by Vieira’s inexperience and fear one of English football’s most challenging jobs could prove too big for a first foray into management.”

McClaren was recently sacked from his previous club, Derby Country after failing to qualify for the Championship’s promotion playoffs this season. He won 54% of his games at Derby but failed to get out of the Championship in two seasons.

As a former Middlesbrough manager, still living in the north-east, McClaren has the advantage of knowing the region inside out. The former England manager’s record is mixed but the 54-year-old is an excellent training ground coach who won the League Cup and reached the Uefa Cup final with Boro before winning the Dutch title at FC Twente.

Steve McClaren’s stint at Middlesbrough started in 2006 resulted in him winning the League Cup, taking the club into Europe, reaching the UEFA Cup final and eventually leaving for the England job. In fact, fans didn’t always enjoy his brand of football and at one stage he had a season ticket flung his way during a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. Newcastle fans enjoy seeing attacking football, but McClaren likes to break games down and keep things tight and squeeze the life out of opponents.

Newcastle have struggled in 2015 and won just three matches in total under John Carver.