Former Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce has said that Steve McClaren needs to remind his players of the responsibilities they have to the club and to the city if they are to improve their form.

The Magpies are joint-bottom of the Premier League table alongside North-East rivals Sunderland having failed to win any of their first six league games of the season, and they crashed out of the League Cup at home to Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.

Allardyce, who managed the club for eight months in 2007-08, says that the current St James' Park boss must instil in the players' minds what it means to wear the black and white shirt.

"[McClaren] needs to really get into the players and tell them about their responsibility - the responsibility they have for wearing that shirt in such a passionate city," he told The Sun.

"There is nothing harder than going into a new club and putting new players together and trying to make it successful instantly, but the only way that Steve will get the time to do the job he wants is by making Newcastle start picking up some results."

Things do not get any easier for Newcastle, with back-to-back league games against Chelsea and Manchester City next up.