DATE OF BIRTH: May 3, 1961
NATIONALITY: English
MANAGERIAL CAREER:
2001-present Middlesbrough (manager)
1999-2001 Manchester United (assistant manager)
1995-99 Derby County (first-team coach)
1992-95 Oxford United (youth, reserve team coach)
PLAYING CAREER:
1987-92 Hull City, Derby County, Lincoln City, Bristol City and Oxford United
HONOURS:
League Cup - 2004 (Middlesbrough)
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Being an excellent coach does not necessarily make you an excellent manager. Bryan Kidd proved the perfect example of this when he left Manchester United to take over at Blackburn Rovers in 1999. His replacement at Old Trafford was the relatively unknown Steve McClaren who has since become Middlesbrough’s most successful manager.
McClaren’s unspectacular playing career started in 1987 at Hull City and finished at Oxford United in 1992 when he suffered a career-ending injury. Moving into coaching, McClaren became the Oxford United reserve team coach before his talent was spotted by Jim Smith at Derby County. McClaren joined the “Bald Eagle” in 1995 and as the assistant manager he helped to engineer Derby’s promotion to the Premiership in the 1995-96 season.
The duo of Smith and McClaren then led Derby, in the surroundings of their new Pride Park ground, to two consecutive mid-table finishes in the Premiership. McClaren’s influence did not go unnoticed in the top flight and he was invited to take one of the biggest jobs in football as assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. McClaren signed a three-and-a-half year contract at Old Trafford, but success came early when Manchester United claimed an unprecedented treble of League Championship, FA Cup and European Cup titles during the 1998-99 season.
In recognition of his coaching abilities, McClaren was asked in 2000, along with Peter Taylor, to become caretaker manager for the England team prior to Sven Goran Eriksson’s appointment as coach. Initially given the blessing of Ferguson and the Manchester United board to participate in the England set-up, McClaren was later blocked from doing so. As a result, McClaren began entertaining the idea of being a manager in his own right.
Heavily linked to vacancies at Leeds United and West Ham United, McClaren was approached by Steve Gibson, the Middlesbrough chairman, to succeed Bryan Robson at the Riverside Stadium. An added incentive offered to McClaren was the opportunity to return to working with the national team. He joined Middlesbrough in 2001.
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During his four seasons in charge Middlesbrough’s Premiership record has been disappointing (their best finish has been eleventh - twice) and yet McClaren has created history at the Teeside club. In 2004 the club claimed its first major piece of silverware for 128 years with victory in the League Cup against Bolton Wanderers. Middlesbrough can trump that trophy with victory in the Uefa Cup final after producing two sensational second-leg comebacks, against FC Basle and Steaua Bucharest respectively, to set up a showdown with Seville in Eindhoven on May 10.
It will be McClaren’s last game in charge for Boro after it was announced on May 4, 2006, that he will succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager after the World Cup Finals in Germany.
McClaren was not considered to be the first choice for the position and after a poor run during the middle of Middlesbrough’s current campaign, the club’s supporters were calling for his head. However, excellent domestic cup runs placated the Riverside faithful and the FA were happy with his contribution as an England assistant and decided that continuity was the wisest choice in selecting a new national team boss.
“It’s people’s opinions,” McClaren said. “I am here to win matches and to try to win major tournaments. If I am doing that, I am sure my popularity will rise. It’s not an issue for me. You don’t always get your first, second or third choice. All that matters is that I’m England manager now and I’m probably the proudest man in the country.”
- Tim Meston