Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren was finally put out of his misery on Friday morning when he was sacked six days after his position became untenable.

The Magpies confirmed his departure after just nine months at 11.30am as they prepared to finalise a deal with former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez to replace him.

A club statement said: “After the defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, the club has spent some time considering its position and has today concluded that Steve McClaren’s employment with the club will end with immediate effect.

“We acknowledge that reaching this decision has taken a number of days and that this has caused uncertainty for everyone involved, in particular for Steve and the players, for which we apologise. However we felt that this time was necessary to ensure the right decisions were reached with the best interests of the club at heart.”