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There is ‘a lot of poison’ in the Newcastle United dressing room, claims John Richardson - with the Express writer alleging that Cheick Tiote is one of a number of ‘bad eggs’ at the club.

Pundits on Sky Sports’ Sunday Supplement were falling over themselves to stick the boot into the hapless Magpies, who are second bottom of the Premier League with just two points from their opening six matches.

Steve McClaren is yet to claim a league victory as Newcastle boss and he saw his side completely outplayed as they succumbed to a 2-1 home defeat to newly-promoted Watford on Saturday.

As well as describing some of United’s defending as “pathetic” against the Hornets, Richardson also singled out Tiote as one of the “bad eggs” who he believes are ruining the club from within.

Richardson said: “The (Newcastle) dressing room - basically I know there’s a few bad eggs in there.

“Steve McClaren knows who they are, he wants to get them out, but it’s harder to do that because they’re on bloated wages. Basically there’s a lot of poison there.

“Yes I do (know who the bad eggs are).

“Yes I can say who one of them is: one of them is Cheick Tiote.

“Tiote, who has supposedly been unfit all season. Newcastle keep sending him for checks and scans - nothing ever comes up.

“He’s obviously not bothered, he doesn’t want to play.

“There’s other players there of the same ilk and until something happens the club is not going to move on.”

The Telegraph’s Matt Law and The Mail on Sunday’s Rob Draper were equally scathing in their criticism of Newcastle - with every aspect of the club just about torn to shreds.

John Richardson entire transcript from Sunday Supplement:

“It’s depressing - depressing for the area. I feel sorry for the fans – 50,000 turn up at Newcastle, 45,000 turn up at Sunderland. They deserve better.

“(Newcastle) brought in Steve McClaren, who we all know is a top-class coach. So everything was in order.

“But I’m afraid that, although some of the buys have been okay - (Georginio) Wijnaldum, top player, a lot of clubs were looking at him - there’s something missing in the dressing room.

“There’s a lot of players there who aren’t up for the cause.

“I’m afraid, I know it sounds a bit of a cliché, but most of them are foreign players who don’t really care.

“They’re just passing by. They’re just basically mercenaries.

“It’s not their fault, they’ve been asked to go to Newcastle.

“They’ve gone in there, the dressing room basically I know there’s a few bad eggs in there.

“Steve McClaren knows who they are, he wants to get them out, but it’s harder to do that because they’re on bloated wages. Basically there’s a lot of poison there.

“Yes I do (know who the bad eggs are). Yes I can say who one of them is: one of them is Cheick Tiote.

“Tiote, who has supposedly been unfit all season. Newcastle keep sending him for checks and scans – nothing ever comes up.

“He’s obviously not bothered, he doesn’t want to play.

“There’s other players there of the same ilk and until something happens the club is not going to move on.

“We were talking about Mark Noble earlier and he’s exactly the sort of player they need - they need a British heart.

“They need players who care about the club. They’ve got (Jack) Colback, but they haven’t got too many of them.

“They’ve got too many players who go missing on the big occasion.

“I mean some of the defending against Watford was absolutely pathetic.

“Newcastle fans are fed up of this. They want action. But nobody can point the finger at Mike Ashley this time.

“You’ve got to say it’s the football people in charge there. It’s bad recruitment – that’s got to improve.

“Steve McClaren I think has got to have a bigger say in who comes in because, after all, he’s coaching them.”