Perhaps the grass is not always greener. Since Alan Pardew left Newcastle United on January 2 the Magpies have played 23 Premier League matches and won just three, drawing five and losing 15.

The current Crystal Palace boss was far from popular at St James' Park, even after delivering European football by finishing fifth in the 2011/12 season. And after deciding to return to his former club at the beginning of the year he was replaced by assistant and committed Geordie John Carver on a caretaker basis.

Carver's stint in the dugout was an unqualified disaster, though, and only a final day win over West Ham United, coupled with a goalless draw for Hull City against Manchester United, sealed Newcastle's place in the top flight on the final day of last season.

And having been handed the reins for the remainder of the campaign, Carver was eventually replaced by former Derby County boss Steve McClaren at the beginning of June.

Winless in his first five league fixtures, the man who held the England manager's post for the fewest competitive games, 18 in 16 months at the helm, is now charged with proving the grass can be greener on Tyneside. He was, after all, a long-term target for hugely unpopular chairman and Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley.

Sacked by Derby for failing to get the Rams into the Championship, that play-offs despite leading the division for a healthy chunk of last season, McClaren has managed FC Twente (twice), VFL Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest since being sacked by England in November 2007.

He has been backed by Ashley in the transfer market after a couple of season's of trying to improve on the cheap and the club's biggest outlay for some years was the £14.5million splurged on PSV Eindhoven's attacking midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum this summer.

Capable of playing wide or as a number ten, the Netherlands international kick-started a £50 million revamp of beleaguered squad which had finished 16th in the Premier League last term.

Hot-headed Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic was the first of two arrivals from Belgian giants Anderlecht, priced at a healthy £13 million, but will miss Saturday's visit from Watford as he serves a suspension for a straight red card picked up 15 minutes into a 2-0 defeat against Arsenal last month.

It is hoped the arrival of the 6ft 3in striker, 21, will lighten the load on Papiss Cisse, who has struggled to build on the form which saw him score 13 times in as many Premier League starts when he joined from Freiburg in January 2012.

The Senegalese's best return since was the 11 league goals he notched last term, those coming in just 11 starts. 

Watford Observer:

Clubmate Chancel Mbemba followed nine days later in an £8.5 million swoop and immediately caught the eye with his sartorial excellence, turning up to his first match at St James' Park resplendent in a tuxedo.

Northampton Town youngster Ivan Toney, 19, moved to the north east in a £500,000 switch from the League Two club with one eye on the future before the Magpies concluded their summer business with the £12 million capture of Marseille winger Florian Thauvin.

The 22-year-old made an immediate impression by scoring after three minutes of his first start, against Northampton in the League Cup, and assisting the three others goals in a 4-1 win.

Watford Observer:

Heading in the opposite direction was Remy Cabella, a player who never displayed the kind of former which persuaded Newcastle to bring him to England from Montpellier 12 months earlier.

The French connection has served the club well in recent years but the 25-year-old struggled despite making 31 top flight appearances and returns to Ligue 1 on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent move.

Versatile full-back Davide Santon was another to leave Newcastle, completing a permanent move back to Internazionale after spending the second half on loan with the side who sold him to the Magpies in 2011.

One incredibly unpopular exit was that of winger Jonas Gutierrez, who assisted one and scored the other against West Ham on the final day of last season to preserve the club's Premier League status having beaten testicular cancer, only to be released days later via a phone call from Carver.

Watford Observer:

During the same conversation another long-serving player, Ryan Taylor, was unceremoniously dumped by the club too.

Newcastle were listless against the Hammers on Monday night as they went down 2-0 to a pair of Dimitri Payet goals in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Their cause would not have been helped by their late arrival at Upton Park but McClaren pulled no punches in his post-match assessment and stated on more than one occasion he would be demanding a reaction against Quique Sanchez Flores' side.

Newcastle United XI v West Ham United (14.9.15): Krul; Janmaat, Coloccini (c), Mbemba, Haidara; Colback, Anita; Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Thauvin; Cisse.