From the Wally with the Brolly to the Prince of Orange - how to turn around a career in less than three years

When Steve McClaren was given his marching orders following England's dismal qualifying performance for Euro 2008, you would have gotten long odds on the former Middlesbrough manager becoming a champion of a major European league less than three years later. And especially with a team which had never won their national title before. But in May, that is exactly what McClaren did, and in doing so, he has made himself sought after in European people. This might have been especially pleasing given England's struggles in South Africa, and Fabio Capello's predecessor could sit back and relax as he looked forward to a new job with a big club in the top flight of England's conquerors - Wolfsburg in Germany.
But how did this situation come about for McClaren? It certainly seemed a long way off back on that dismal night in November 2007, as two clangers from goalkeeper Scott Carson saw England lose a game at home to Croatia they only had to draw to qualify for the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland the following year. They was a great deal of skepticism about his appointment as England coach before the 2006 World Cup (after Sven Goran Eriksson had announced he was going to step down after the tournament in Germany), despite him seeming the perfect candidate. For starters, he's English (although Brazilian Luis Felipe Scolari was approached before McClaren), he'd served a good apprenticeship (as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson, and as a coach under Eriksson from 2000 until 2002, and 2002 up to when he became coach), and he took Middlesbrough to unprecedented success at the Riverside.
Despite a promising start on the pitch, with three wins in the first three games, cracks started to appear. Two appointments were greatly scrutinised - that of former England coach Terry Venables as his assistant, and PR guru Max Clifford to aid his public image. He made big decisions like dropping experienced trio Sol Campbell, David James and former captain David Beckham, but he never really seemed to have control of the national set-up. The first setbacks on the pitch came in October 2006, with a dismal goalless draw at Wembley against Macedonia followed by a defeat away at early pacesetters Croatia - which featured a ludicrous own goal from Gary Neville, after the ball bounced up and over goalkeeper Paul Robinson's foot following a backpass from the right-back.
Another goalless draw followed in the new year, this time away to Israel - and with a similar scoreline at half-time against the ultimate international minnows, Andorra, England were booed of at the interval. They recovered to win, but McClaren refused to speak in the post-match press conference. I doubt Mr Clifford would have thought that a good idea! A win at home to Russia, followed by a defeat away to Guus Hiddink's side (which featured another ridiculous individual error, this time Wayne Rooney's needless concession of a penalty), seemed to put England's qualification hopes in real danger. Beckham had been recalled to the side (in a move similar to the one his England successor Capello made at Real Madrid), but it was a surprise Israeli win at home to Russia which put England's Euro 2008 hopes back in their own hands.
If anyone can screw up a good position though, it's England. The match had humiliation written all over it before the referee even blew his whistle - if only because of McClaren's ill-advised decision to be accompanied by an umbrella to combat the pouring rain at Wembley. As the match progressed, and as England struggled, the umbrella stayed up and there was little sign of tactical acumen on the touchline as he stood there passively. A disastrous first quarter of an hour saw Croatia saw twice following two mistakes from Carson. England rallied in the second half though, as a Frank Lampard penalty and Peter Crouch following put them on the brink of qualification. But just as the tide seemed to have turned, Mladen Petric beat Carson from long range, and that coupled with Russia's win in Andorra, saw England fail to qualify for a major championship for the first time since the 1994 World Cup in USA. The England coach at the time, Graham Taylor, became known as a 'Turnip' by the tabloids for that failure. And Fleet Street had a similarly effective field-day in light of this catastrophe. McClaren became 'The Wally with the Brolly.'
The following day, McClaren was given his marching orders, along with his assistant Terry Venables. The statistics did not make for pretty reading. His tenure of 18 games spanning 16 months was the shortest of any manager ever, as was his win percentage (just 50%). His reputation in England was ruined, so he took the only course of action available to him - move abroad, following in the footsteps of the last English coach to win a major European league, Sir Bobby Robson.
The great man (who has now sadly passed) would have been delighted he no longer holds that accolade, as he knows how the England job can intrude on your personal life and damage your standing in the game - even if you are successful in the national post, as he was. Despite taking England to a World Cup quarter-final and semi-final, Robson was often vilified by the press. He submitted his resignation twice, after failing to qualify for Euro 84 and losing all three games at Euro 88, but this was twice rejected. Then there were press rumours that player power was behind the decision to change formation at the 1990 World Cup. The FA had already told Robson they would not be renewing his contract before the tournament in Italy, so following England's best ever performance aside from winning the tournament on home soil (it remains so to this day) the affable Geordie rejected the U-turn from his employers.
Instead he headed to Holland - sound familiar! He won successive league titles at PSV Eindhoven, a feat he repeated at FC Porto in 1995 and 1996. Following the latter success at Porto, he became the new Barcelona manager, and although the La Liga title eluded him, he won the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners' Cup, and helped mould the career of a young Jose Mourinho, before he returned to England with Newcastle United in 1999 after nine years on the continent.
It was probably with this in mind that McClaren had no hesitation in accepting an offer from FC Twente Enschede in June 2008, as he tried to rebuild his reputation away from the glare of the British press. The club is a provincial outfit, who are used to punching above their weight and living in the shadows of big fish like Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. It was an inauspicious start in Holland - before his first competitive match in charge against Arsenal in the Champions League third qualifying round, he adopted a comedy Dutch accent in broken English for the Dutch media. An example: '"To experiensh big gamesh, Championsh League... Arshenal... The Emiratesh... will be fantashtic for the playersh, not just for now but for the future ash well. I shay I think we are not just... what you call?... underdogsh but mashive underdogsh." They lost the match, and ended up dropping into the UEFA Cup, but it was one of few setbacks in his first season at the helm. His team finished second in the league (their highest ever finish and qualifying for the Champions League again in the progress), reached the Dutch Cup final before losing on penalties to Heerenveen after a 2-2 draw, and most impressively, survived the UEFA Cup group stages with wins against Racing Santander and FC Schalke, to stay in Europe past the New Year for the first time ever. It is fair to say he had silenced many of the doubters.
But that is nothing compared to what would follow in his second season. As is often the case with Dutch football (and a smaller club like Twente especially) key players departed in the summer, in this case being Eljero Elia to Hamburg and Marko Arnautovic to Inter Milan. But McClaren showed that, while he may not always be the main man when it comes to tactics, he knows his way around the transfer market. New signings Bryan Ruiz (a £4.2 million record buy from Belgian club Gent) and Miroslav Stoch (on loan from Chelsea), scored 34 goals between them to make the transition seamless. They started the season well, and never looked back. There was again moderate success in Europe, qualifying for the first knockout round of the newly named Europa League, but it was in the league where McClaren and Twente wrote their names into football history. They were the pacesetters throughout the season following a lightning quick start to the season. They were consistent from start to finish, losing just two games all season and winning all but one of their home games. This was despite ferocious pressure from the Amsterdam giants, who won 16 of their final 17 games, but failed to overhaul Twente despite a huge goal difference of plus 86 (double Twente's plus 40).
This marked an extraordinary rehabilitation for McClaren - the laughter had stopped and the praise started. There was still a thinly veiled reference to the lack of an umbrella amidst the teeming rain during the title winning match away to NAC Breda by a British tabloid, but after what he's achieved, McClaren is unlikely to lose much sleep. There was a moving tribute to Sir Bobby Robson, who passed away just under a year ago following another bout of cancer: 'the relationship I had with Bobby was very special. He was a major influence on my decision to come to Twente.' On the magnitude of his achievement, it was not lost on the Englishman: winning the Carling Cup with Middlesbrough was special, but this is right up there with anything I have achieved in the game. To win a championship in a foreign country with foreign coaches, I think it's made me stronger.'
So where now for McClaren? There is no secret behind the rebuilding of his reputation. Hard work and time out of the glare of the intrusive British press have done wonders for McClaren's psyche. While the pressure's of the international stage might have proved too much for McClaren, he once again proved himself adept on the club management stage. After a period of acclimatisation, surrounding himself with a coaching team versed in the different nuances in tactics, style of playing and coaching in Dutch football, McClaren took a more hands-on approach, and found a new home. Less than two weeks after he lifted the Eredivisie trophy, he agreed a move to the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg. Following his achievements in Holland, there will be a greater focus on his latest career move. He has a brilliant opportunity to make a name for himself at Wolfsburg, who have a talented playing squad in one of the top four European leagues. An early priority will be hanging on to star player such as Bosnians Edin Dzeko and Zvjedan Misimovic, Brazilian striker Grafite (check out a YouTube clip of an outrageous goal in their title winning season of 2008/09 for evidence of his quality), and captain Josue, who also made the Bazilian World Cup squad. But signings such as German international Arne Friedrich and talented young Danish defender Simon Kjaer show evidence of their ambitions. Having won the Bundesliga the season before, a disappointing season followed with an eight place finish an exits from the group stage of the Champions League and the Europa League quarter-finals to Fulham, qualifications for Europe is a must. But McClaren will follow his tried and tested policy - take stock early in the season to become acclimatised to his new surroundings before taking a more hands-on role.
There is a glint in his eye which was seldom seen during his time in charge of the national team, and he believes more English coaches should experience managing abroad to broaden their depth of experience. He sites the example of Roy Hodgson as one young British managers should heed: 'I don't think British managers can compete for the top jobs at the moment. They don't have the experience of winning titles and competing in the Champions League. Roy Hodgson is a perfect example of someone who has gone here, there and everywhere to all sorts of clubs, and come back with foreign experience to add to English know-how, and established himself as a top manager.' This is presumably something McClaren himself wants to emulate, as Hodgson has just been appointed the new Liverpool manager - one of the top jobs McClaren is inevitably referring to, and a benchmark for him to aim for. But for now he has a new league and a new challenge to look forward to.
It shouldn't take being a national pariah for our young coaches to take this step - but McClaren will be delighted he made the gamble, and it has been quite some turnaround. If McClaren wants to fit in, rather than adopt a comedy German accent, he'd be better served purchasing a Volswagen - Wolfsburg is the home of VW after all!