McClaren offered job shocker

[Guest Stevie]

McClaren to go Dutch in surprise return

Matt Dickinson

 

Steve McClaren is on the brink of a surprise return to football in the Netherlands with FC Twente. The former England head coach was in Amsterdam yesterday to see Twente qualify for the Champions League at the expense of Ajax.

 

McClaren will decide this week whether to rebuild his career overseas and is giving serious consideration to the offer from Twente. He has been out of work since he was dismissed by the Football Association in November after England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 and is keen to return this summer. The usual post-season cull of managers is likely to provide openings in the Coca-Cola Championship, but McClaren has often expressed a desire to work abroad.

 

Twente finished fourth in the Dutch league, ten points behind PSV Eindhoven, the champions, but secured the second Champions League place through the play-offs with a 0-0 draw in the Amsterdam ArenA yesterday. They will join in the third qualifying round and the promise of European football is one of the lures for the Yorkshireman.

 

There is also the chance to rebuild his reputation without some of the baggage that would inevitably follow him around England because of his failure with the national side. Sir Bobby Robson also left the FA to work in the Netherlands, with PSV, and he is known to have encouraged McClaren to consider working there. The language would be far less of a problem than in other European countries.

Related Links

 

* McClaren will return a 'better manager'

 

* McClaren's epitaph: ‘Worse than Graham Taylor’

 

* McClaren delighted to get back to the basics

 

Twente want McClaren to decide in the next few days whether he will succeed Fred Rutten, who has agreed to join Schalke 04 in Germany. One report yesterday linked McClaren with a return to Derby County, but there has been no approach. While it would be a gamble to move abroad, success would also mark him out. The number of English coaches who have worked overseas has been pitifully few in recent years.

 

Twente will regard it as a coup if they can attract the man who was once Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United and who, while at Middlesbrough, won the League Cup in 2004, came runner-up in the Uefa Cup in 2006 and finished seventh in the Premiership, the club’s highest finish.

 

Since losing the England job, McClaren, 47, has been travelling around Europe, seeking to build up his contacts and knowledge of players. That experience could prove useful given that he would need to trade within a limited budget at Twente, based in Enschede, a city of around 150,000 people near the eastern border with Germany. Bankrupt five years ago, the club have since been taken over by ambitious new owners. Managerial rivals would include Marco van Basten, who will take charge at Ajax this summer.

 

If McClaren does decide to move abroad — and his family is bound to be another consideration — Twente’s custom of playing You’ll Never Walk Alone before kick-off should at least help him to feel more at home after his years in England.

 

He should've been banned from football in my opinion for what he did with England. How a club can have the lack of common sense to offer him a job is beyond me. This is a club who will be playing in the Champions League next season.

[Guest alex]

I think it's another case of a bloke who seemed to be a good coach/no. 2 but who isn't a very good manager. I feel it's a bit harsh in way blaming him regarding England. You really have to look at the FA. He was appointed on the back of winning a League Cup and, more particularly, fluking his way to a Uefa Cup final with Sunday morning tactics. The worst thing is, the FA wouldn't have sacked him and he'd be leading us to the European Championship if we'd held onto a 2-2 draw against Croatia.

[bassplayerjj 0]

McClaren's performance for England is indefensible, end of. You right in saying he should never have been appointed; but dear god, what a fucking mess he made of it. I reckon even Graham fucking Taylor would have made it out of that group.

[Guest alex]

McClaren's performance for England is indefensible, end of. You right in saying he should never have been appointed; but dear god, what a fucking mess he made of it. I reckon even Graham fucking Taylor would have made it out of that group.

I wasn't really trying to defend the mess he made of it. He was shite. Although the players shouldn't get off lightly either - Steeevie Geeee v. Russia for example. I just think that he was never going to turn the job down (who would in his shoes?) but he only got it because they were seemingly desperate to get an English bloke in (it could well have been Fat Sam were it not for the bung allegations and so on ffs). And even after the terrible mess he'd made (as I've mentioned) they would have kept him there if we'd got what would have been a very lucky 'get out of jail free card' and drawn with Croatia at Wembley.

[Happy Face 29]

The England job is a pisser and can bring the worst out in managers, the pressure on them brings out mistakes if they're in the least bit weak willed.

 

The press are complete arseholes.

 

Graham taylor was an excellent manager and I'm always impressed with his punditry, but his time at England will taint him forever.

 

I don't think McLaren is half the manager Taylor was, but I don't see why he shouldn't have a job in management if Steve Bruce does.

[Guest alex]

The England job is a pisser and can bring the worst out in managers, the pressure on them brings out mistakes if they're in the least bit weak willed.

 

The press are complete arseholes.

 

Graham taylor was an excellent manager and I'm always impressed with his punditry, but his time at England will taint him forever.

 

I don't think McLaren is half the manager Taylor was, but I don't see why he shouldn't have a job in management if Steve Bruce does.

I do think it's very different between managing a club side and a national side too, for obvious reasons. Ideally I think a national job is for a 'wily old fox' who has seen it all (as Capello has) rather than someone in the early stages of their managerial career.

[luckyluke 1]

I think it's another case of a bloke who seemed to be a good coach/no. 2 but who isn't a very good manager. I feel it's a bit harsh in way blaming him regarding England. You really have to look at the FA. He was appointed on the back of winning a League Cup and, more particularly, fluking his way to a Uefa Cup final with Sunday morning tactics. The worst thing is, the FA wouldn't have sacked him and he'd be leading us to the European Championship if we'd held onto a 2-2 draw against Croatia.

 

As part of the Erikkson regime, announcing McClaren as manager BEFORE the world cup in 2006 was sheer lunacy also.

[Guest Stevie]

I think it's another case of a bloke who seemed to be a good coach/no. 2 but who isn't a very good manager. I feel it's a bit harsh in way blaming him regarding England. You really have to look at the FA. He was appointed on the back of winning a League Cup and, more particularly, fluking his way to a Uefa Cup final with Sunday morning tactics. The worst thing is, the FA wouldn't have sacked him and he'd be leading us to the European Championship if we'd held onto a 2-2 draw against Croatia.

 

As part of the Erikkson regime, announcing McClaren as manager BEFORE the world cup in 2006 was sheer lunacy also.

They've done that with loads of managers though.

[Dr Kenneth Noisewater 0]

The England job is a pisser and can bring the worst out in managers, the pressure on them brings out mistakes if they're in the least bit weak willed.

 

The press are complete arseholes.

 

Graham taylor was an excellent manager and I'm always impressed with his punditry, but his time at England will taint him forever.

 

I don't think McLaren is half the manager Taylor was, but I don't see why he shouldn't have a job in management if Steve Bruce does.

Can we not not knock him?

[Paul 0]

Am I missing something here? Why are Twente looking for a new manager if they've just qualified for the Champions League?

[Bombadil 0]

Am I missing something here? Why are Twente looking for a new manager if they've just qualified for the Champions League?

 

Their manager is going to be the new Schalke manager next season.

[Happy Face 29]

The England job is a pisser and can bring the worst out in managers, the pressure on them brings out mistakes if they're in the least bit weak willed.

 

The press are complete arseholes.

 

Graham taylor was an excellent manager and I'm always impressed with his punditry, but his time at England will taint him forever.

 

I don't think McLaren is half the manager Taylor was, but I don't see why he shouldn't have a job in management if Steve Bruce does.

Can we not not knock him?

 

I encourage it.