Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren is targeting a significant improvement in 2016 after admitting 2015 has simply not been good enough.

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The Magpies head into their clash with Everton on Saturday sitting in 17th place in the Premier League table and having won just eight games in all competitions during the calendar year to date.

That comes nowhere near matching the club’s relatively modest ambitions, let alone those of the fans, and McClaren is well aware things have to improve significantly if he is to make a success of his reign having collected just 30 points from their last 36 league fixtures.

The 54-year-old said: “That hasn’t been good enough. We’re working and working and seeing the progress. More consistency needs to be there and we need a damn better second half then we did the first.

“We need a better 2016 than 2015, when there wasn’t a lot to cheer about all the way through.”

McClaren was charged with the task of securing a top-eight finish and targeting cup success when he was handed his job during the summer, but life on Tyneside has proved challenging having won just four league games since his arrival.