He should be advertising umbrellas, but did we judge Steve McClaren too soon..?

Steve McClaren has become a bit of a laughing stock in this country, but is that really fair?

Who can forget his forlorn figure trudging off the Wembley pitch in the pouring rain, clutching an umbrella, after his last game as England manager.

However, following his unsuccessful stint as England boss, the Yorkshire man has reinvented himself in Holland this season.

Last August, I watched a very amusing clip of McClaren giving an interview to a Dutch journalist, and he was speaking English, whilst trying to imitate a foreign accent. It was cringe-worthy, but many of us do actually do this, quite naturally. I certainly do, living in China.

I couldn’t stop laughing at McClaren for producing yet another comical moment in a whole recent series of comical moments, but in all honestly, it’s unfair to judge the man’s career on his failing's as England manager.

At that time, I was just joining the flock of seagulls gathering, hoping that McClaren would fail again. But his successes in the Netherlands have certainly made many of us think again.

McClaren was a terrific coach at Derby and Manchester United, and has actually become a decent manager. He was carried off the pitch like a messiah by his players on Saturday, following FC Twente’s 3-0 win over AZ Alkmaar, the newly crowned Dutch Champions.

The result ensured that McClaren's team, FC Twente, would finish second in the Dutch Eredivisie. This is, without any doubt, a superb achievement.

Some insular journalists and supporters will ignorantly point out that it’s ‘only the Dutch League’, but we have to put this achievement into context.

PSV Eindhoven, Ajax and Feyenood are all historic European clubs.

Ajax have won the European Cup four times and have reached the last eight as recently as 2003. PSV reached the Champions League quarter finals only two years ago, beating Arsenal, while Feyenoord won the UEFA Cup as recently as 2002.

These clubs are so powerful across the North Sea and are the equivalent of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal in the English game.

McClaren has, to use a familiar analogy, taken a club like West Ham or Manchester City (big clubs, but not superpowers) automatically into the Champions League.

The former national coach has been playing an attacking 4-3-3 system for most of the season and has, according to some reports in Holland, helped to dispel the myth that English coaches can only play one way.

If Twente beat Heereveen on May 17th and lift the Dutch Cup, it will be the most successful season in their history. What more can you ask from the man?


It might be easy to be nostalgic at the Riverside, due to their current league position, but the majority of Middlesbrough fans appreciate that McClaren did a very good job as boss.
He gave them the best times they’ve ever had.

After reaching three domestic cup final under Bryan Robson in the late 90s, McClaren took the club to another level, after being appointed in 2001. He actually started off very badly, losing his first five league games, but you always know that Steve Gibson, the Boro chairman, will give his managers time, and his decision was justified. Boro finished a solid 12th in that first season and also reached the FA Cup semi finals.

McClaren did have money to spend in his five years on Teeside, but that doesn’t always guarantee success, and he steadily built the club into a major force during the middle of the decade.

Following another mid table finish in 2003, the club celebrated the first silverware in their history in 2004 by beating Bolton Wanderers in the Carling Cup Final. It also took them into Europe for the first time. Many journalists seem to conveniently forget this stunning achievement.

In fact, before Harry Redknapp won the FA Cup with Portsmouth last season, McClaren was the last English manager to win a major trophy.

The following season was, to some extent, even better. The team became a team to be reckoned with in the Premiership and was fighting for a European place all season. They became very tough to beat, especially at home, and also, at times, played some fine attacking football with players such as Viduka, Hasslebank and Zenden well nurtured by McClaren, and reproducing their best form.

The club finished seventh in 2005 and qualified for Europe in dramatic style on the last day of the season. The Leeds born manager had overseen another very successful campaign.

Another trip into Europe followed, and, having given a good account of themselves the previous season, Middlesbrough excelled beyond all expectations in 2005-06.

The Riverside club produced thrilling, classic second leg comebacks against Steua Bucharest and FC Basle. They also beat AS Roma along the way, in a match that proved McClaren could mix it tactically against strong Serie A teams.

The only major blip that year, was a Boro fan approaching McClaren’s bench during a 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa and throwing his shirt at the future England boss. The team were 17th at that point in February, but in the next match beat the Champions, Chelsea, 3-0. They eventually eased away from safety and reached the FA Cup semi finals again.

McClaren’s side eventually went on to lose the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven, but it was still a fantastic run, and had given the club’s supporters an unforgettable experience.

McClaren had had three terrific seasons with Boro, and landed the England job. However, in hindsight, he probably over achieved and wasn’t ready. Of course, this is easy to say now.


His time with the national team was a disaster, and was a reign filled with criticism and anguish.

A team including players such as Gerrard, Rooney, Lampard, Ferdinand, Joe and Ashley Cole, John Terry and Michael Owen should not be failing to qualify for a major championship. This is especially true, when the team are the top seeds in the group.

However, it is also important to be objective.

McClaren did make mistakes, and made some strange decisions. Some of them were very public, and showed a lack of experience.

He tried to stamp down his authority early, by dropping David Beckham. It famously backfired, and the Real Madrid man was recalled.

However, Fabio Capello also tried this tactic at Real Madrid, and look what he has achieved and where he is now. It’s often all about luck, as well as judgement.

Steve McClaren certainly did not have much luck as England boss. At times, so many things conspired against him, and I personally think some players let him down with their performances.

England went to Russia in the penultimate game knowing that a win would put them through to Euro 2008 with a game to spare. Rooney scored, but at 1-0 Steven Gerrard missed a chance that nine times out of ten he would have scored.

At 2-0 the game would have been all but over and England would have qualified. In acres of space, 15 yards out, coming in from the left on the half volley and on his right foot, Gerrard, with his technique and ability would normally bury such an opportunity. He didn’t and it proved to be a crucial miss.

Would Gerrard have missed that chance for Liverpool? Who knows, but it was a turning point and pretty much cost McClaren his job. Any England manager cannot legislate for his players making these errors of judgment, especially players with the quality of Gerrard.

In the last group game at home to Croatia, McClaren was desperately unlucky again. He had no first choice centre halves or full backs. Gary Neville, Terry, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole were all injured. His first choice strikers, Heskey, Rooney and Owen, were also unfit.

It is all very well saying that England deserved to go out of that group as the results were not good enough, but McClaren was without seven of his usual first eleven that night, and this has often not been mentioned. Of course it was a huge factor.

McClaren's case was also reinforced by the fact that both Russia and Croatia performed exceptionally well at the European Championships.

On the other hand, this also just increases the disappointment, and shows what McClaren might have achieved with just a little more insight.

The fact is, that England should have been good enough to qualify with ease and the campaign should not have gone to the wire. Nothing, however, is so clear and simple in football, and the England manager’s job is one of the toughest there is.

You have to respect Steve McClaren though. He has put his reputation on the line in Holland, and proved that he has talent. In all intense and purposes he’s a nice guy, who was too young for the England job. The FA just felt obliged to appoint an Englishman and he got the short straw.

But it was also an opportunity very few turn down.

He needed more experience, but he has shown he is more than capable. He has also proved himself in a foreign country, which is a testament to him and his ambition.

McClaren has now been linked with Sunderland, but shouldn’t he stay in Holland? FC Twente are already in the Champions League proper.

If he does stay, and I hope he does, maybe now he can really prove himself at the highest level of club football. Then, maybe some of us, can be left with at least a small egg on our face, and start thinking of some different umbrella scenario’s to jest about.