DARYL JANMAAT has described his embarrassment at being named the North-East's best footballer during a year when Newcastle United have faced a constant struggle to fight against relegation.

Janmaat was crowned the North-East Football Writers’ player of the year on Sunday night at Ramside Hall, Co Durham, when he was rewarded for his individual performances since moving from Feyenoord.

But he picked up his award just 24 hours after being part of the Newcastle team which was crushed 5-1 by Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace, a display and result that infuriated supporters and led to stinging criticism from the club’s all-time record goalscorer Alan Shearer.

Janmaat has made no attempt to hide his own frustration, after Newcastle’s eighth defeat from 14 league games has left them looking at a two-point gap to Sunderland sitting just above the relegation zone in fourth bottom.

“It is a strange situation standing here, I am proud to win this prize but I am not proud of Newcastle’s results in 2015,” said Janmaat, after winning the trophy Lee Cattermole earned 12 months ago.

“I would say a big thank you to Newcastle supporters for their brilliant support and they deserve much more than we gave them. Myself, teammates and the staff will do everything they can to make 2016 a success.”

Pressure is building on Steve McClaren to turn things around, with Newcastle still struggling to shake off the misery of last season when a short burst of form before Christmas effectively proved enough to keep them up.

Despite a summer of investment on a few expensive players, Newcastle’s squad looks short of the sort of characters required to turn things around but that is not helping McClaren’s own cause.

The former Middlesbrough and England manager remains the man owner Mike Ashley wants, so he will be giving him a bit more time. However, there are still huge question marks over Newcastle’s recruitment policy.

Shearer, writing in his column for The Sun, has made it quite clear what he thinks of Newcastle’s malaise ahead of Sunday’s visit of Liverpool to St James’ Park.

“It is no coincidence that both Newcastle and Aston Villa have the same recruitment policy and find themselves bottom and second bottom,” said Shearer. “They want to buy younger players who can grow and they can then sell on for a profit. None of the players bought by Newcastle this summer were Steve McClaren buys.

“They had been earmarked in April and they are simply not good enough. A club like Newcastle should be buying quality, preferably with Premier League experience, not someone from abroad who might make them a few quid if he has a good season.

“All Newcastle managers under this current regime have had the same problems with players found for them by some recruitment ‘experts’.”

Despite Ashley retaining faith in McClaren, Newcastle are already being linked with a number of possible contenders to replace him.

Brendan Rodgers, David Moyes and Harry Redknapp have been mentioned, even though sources close to the St James’ boardroom insist McClaren still has the support of the men above him.