The Great Escape : Steve McClaren


Hey child, things are looking down, That’s OK you don’t need to win anyways!

"Bad day, looking for a way... looking for the great escape"

Those words accurately describe what the ex-England manager, Steve McClaren have felt after his ill fated brief spell. Ah, that rainy November night - McClaren under the infamous umbrella; Scott Carson's goalkeeping gaffe; Croatia's Petric's 77th minute goal - the 3 Lions and its fans were resigned to a long summer watching Euro 2008 from the comfort of their pubs. Following the 3-2 loss to Croatia, McClaren was swiftly fired as England manager and all looked doom and gloom for the ex-Middlesbrough manager; surely his disastrous tenure as England's boss did his resume little good but given the nature of the beautiful game, Holland came calling in the shape of Eredivise club FC Twente.

"Gets in his car and drives away...Puts on a smile and breaths it in and breaths it out"

And that's what he did. FC Twente announcement of Steve McClaren as the successor to ex-manager Fred Rutten (currently manager of German club Schalke) was met with mixed results by pundits who generally knew little about the Dutch club nor cared much about McClaren's new gig. After securing qualification to the qualifying rounds of the champions league from last season's Eredivise playoff victory against Ajax, FC Twente were drawn against English giants Arsenal. A 6-0 aggregate loss sent McClaren's side out of the champions league but then again it was always going to be a tough task overcoming the English side.

"Don’t be afraid just eat up all the gray and it will fade away, Don’t let yourself fall down"

With 5 wins and a draw in their last six domestic games, FC Twente sit 3rd in the Eredivise, five points behind leaders AZ Alkmaar and face Marseille in the first knock out round of the EUFA cup in February. While former manager Fred Rutten deserves credit for building a good squad, McClaren has done himself much good by sticking to a simple yet winning formula which players as well as fans enjoy. While most new managers shuffle the deck upon arrival to new pastures, McClaren stuck with Rutten's system whilst adding reinforcements in loan signings.

"He says bye-bye, bye to all of the noise, Oh he says bye-bye bye to all of the noise"

Things can only getter better for McClaren and FC Twente. Relative anonymity from the English media has done him wonders and with a successful start to his reign in Holland, it won't be long till a premier league club comes calling yet whether Alex Ferguson's former assistant will make any hasty decisions about a coaching career in the motherland. At FC Twente, McClaren a big fish in a little pond - that suits him just fine.

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