Steve McClaren’s failure to qualify England for Euro 2008 will no doubt harshly haunt the rest of his career in football, despite his success in becoming the first Englishman since Bobby Robson in 1996 to win a top-level domestic league.
It seems like no matter what McClaren can or will achieve it will simply not be enough for those who will never forgive him for his catastrophic stint in the world’s most hottest of hot-seats. McClaren however has fine pedigree after learning his trade as assistant manager to one of the greatest managers of all time at Manchester United and succeeded to take his Middlesbrough side to a European final after a League cup success, the club’s first major honour which allowed them to qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
For every success, there seems to be a failure waiting to come along and overshadow all of McClaren’s fine achievements. Ill-fated stints at England, Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest only serve to reinforce the “Wally with a Brolly” image. The man behind the umbrella should be hugely applauded for his successes and not dragged down by his shortcomings. It is a sad feat that the most successful English manager of the century so far has become a source of mockery.
McClaren and Twenty seem to be a good fit and will allow McClaren the chance to perfect his developing Dutch accent and will allow him to match his successes experienced as manager of Middlesbrough and Twenty during his first stint as manager. That is, of course, if he finally figures where he is…
Tomos Llewellyn