I have no idea how tight they were with Cliff. But I saw them shortly after his death at a German metal open air (together with Saxon, Dio, Ratt, BÖC and Deep Purple) and they had huge timing issues, especially new boy Jason Newsted. Never heard a professional band that sounded as shaky. The fact that they had a very clear sound did them no favors, you could hear them struggling to be on the beat. Of course, that was 25 years ago and they are most likely rock-solid today. Back then, however, even Ratt was tighter!
Uwe