Steve McClaren by Dr. Michael Calleja
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teve McClaren certainly needs no introduction insofar as Manchester United fans are concerned. The 61-year-old returns to Old Trafford after more than a twenty-year absence following his initial stint as assistant manager under the great Sir Alex Ferguson.
McClaren was by no means a prolific footballer in the mould of an Ancelotti, Capello or Zidane. In fact, he spent the twilight years of his playing career in the lower leagues – particularly with Hull City FC (playing a total of 178 games) between the 1979 and 1985. He eventually also featured for Derby County, Lincoln City, Bristol City and finally Oxford United before retiring in 1992 – due to injury. His tenure at Oxford United was by no means over since the young McClaren immediately turned his attention to coaching – particularly as a youth and reserve team coach before eventually joining Derby County back in 1995 – serving as assistant manager to Jim Smith. The majority of United fans will surely remember an unknown quantity joining the Red Devils back in January of 1999. A new assistant manager (replacing former coach Brian Kidd) was unveiled to the media as “Steve McClaridge” by then
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Chairman Mr. Martin Edwards. Little did players and fans know that McClaren’s impact would not only be immediate – but reach epic proportions – unheard of in British football. Joining United at such a crucial and delicate time of the season was surely very daunting – and McClaren did confess, many years later, that the step up to Manchester United was both taxing and inestimable. The level of professionalism (initiated by Sir Alex Ferguson) and reinforced by the mercurial Roy Keane pleasantly surprised McClaren – who had even noted that the players were willing to forgo rest days in exchange for putting in that extra training session. Such traits, particularly near the business-end of the season, would prove fruitful as the Reds entered into the latter stages of the 1998-1999 season battling on all three fronts. United fans certainly need no reminders as to how the end of season panned out. McClaren surely must have been pinching himself – noting how he had managed to form part of a technical staff that saw the club achieve the unthinkable – a treble of epic proportions which has not been replicated by any English team since the heydays of Barcelona. Sir Alex Ferguson himself had always credited McClaren for developing a reputation as one of the most tactically astute coaches in the land who certainly wasn’t afraid to introduce
