Southampton substitute Shane Long headed a late
In McClaren's first competitive fixture at the helm, Newcastle came from behind to lead at St James' Park after Graziano Pelle had opened the scoring midway through the first half.
But Southampton, led by Ronald Koeman's brother Erwin as the manager recovers from Achilles surgery, showed their battling qualities and levelled with 11 minutes remaining when Long headed in Dusan Tadic's cross.
It was an impressive response from the visitors, who started with eight of the XI in action just three days previously against Vitesse in the UEFA Europa League.
For Newcastle, it was an encouraging start to life under McClaren, having narrowly avoided relegation at the end of last season.
The home side fielded two
At the opposite end, Cedric Soares went close to
The hosts thought they should have had a penalty midway through the half when
And any feelings of injustice were exacerbated when
Davis was in the right place again to clear Coloccini's effort off the
A remarkable start to the second half saw Newcastle survive a major scare before going ahead for the first time.
Yoshida ought to have put the visitors back in front, but he could only direct his free header from six yards straight at the legs of Krul - with Newcastle
Gabriel Obertan did well to reach Cisse's pass down the right, and whipped in a superb cross that Wijnaldum glanced into the far corner with a neat header.
But Newcastle
Things almost got worse for McClaren, as Mane saw an effort brilliantly blocked by Jack Colback before the winger sent another shot narrowly wide but both sides ultimately settled for a point.