Daryl Janmaat in action for Newcastle against local rivals Sunderland

McClaren took charge of the managerial reigns in 2015, soon after Janmaat completed his impressive debut season at St James' Park, where in the same year, was crowned winner of the North East Football Writers' Player of the Year.

But under McClaren, Janmaat's form dipped rapidly alongside a squad who had Â£80million worth of talent invested into it across two transfer windows.

The 57-year-old failed miserably in attempting to get the best out his squad before he was subsequently sacked in March 2016.

Rafa Benitez was left to pick up the broken pieces, however was unable to prevent the club from falling into the Championship despite ending the 2015-16 season unbeaten - highlighting just how much damage McClaren had done.

And Janmaat, who appeared in the Magpies' second-tier opener with Fulham in August 2016, left shortly after to join Watford and has questioned McClaren's managerial ability but insists he is a nice guy.

"(He is) a great guy, a good coach on the pitch, but as a manager there were a lot of things (missing),” Janmaat said whilst speaking to dutch outlet AD.

“He could have been louder, and more able to make his mark on certain things. (He is) an excellent coach on the pitch, who happens to be a manager.”

McClaren replaced Ian Holloway as QPR boss in the summer and started poorly, losing his opening four league games - including a 7-1 dumping at West Bromwich Albion.