Dutch Debate: The Steve McClaren Chronicles - From Wally With The Brolly To Emperor Of Enschede

Steve McClaren started his first job as head coach in 2001, when he was appointed as Middlesbrough manager. The former Manchester United assistant guided the club to League Cup success three years after his appointment and made it to the UEFA Cup final in 2005-’06. Despite losing against Sevilla in the final, McClaren appeared to have a promising managerial future ahead of him.

When Sven Goran Eriksson opted to resign as England national team manager in 2006, the English FA did not need too long to find a replacement. McClaren had been a coach at the Three Lions since 2000 and appeared to be the perfect candidate after his impressive performances at Middlesbrough. However, the current Twente coach’s stay in charge of England did not turn out to be a success.

McClaren failed to qualify for Euro’08 and got the sack in November 2007 as a result. The 48-year-old’s tenure was the shortest of any England manager to date, spanning just 18 games in 16 months. To make things even worse, McClaren was heavily vilified by the English media. The beleaguered coach opted to use an umbrella to protect himself from rain during the decisive game against Croatia, thus earning himself the nickname ‘the Wally with the Brolly’.

The former England chief announced in February 2008 he would consider managing abroad in his next job. However, football followers from all over the world were surprised when McClaren was appointed as new head coach of Eredivisie side Twente. Many wondered why an English manager such as McClaren would move to Holland in order to coach a ‘small team’ in a ‘second rate competition’. Others were surprised that a team from the nation of total football appointed a coach from the nation of kick and rush football.      

The Enschede side had only just lost some of their star players, with Orlando Engelaar (Schalke 04), Karim el Ahmadi (Feyenoord) and Luke Wilkshire (Dinamo Moscow) all seeking pastures new in the summer transfer window. However, the Tukkers found some decent replacements in the transfer market. Kenneth Perez, Theo Janssen and Ronnie Stam all signed permanent deals at Twente, while Slobodan Rajkovic joined the Eredivisie side on loan.

Twente started the season with losses in the Champions League preliminaries, but they bounced back with some outstanding performances in the UEFA Cup. Stade Rennais, Schalke and Racing Santander were all defeated before the Tukkers eventually were eliminated by Olympique de Marseille after spot kicks.  Furthermore, they impressed domestically by making it to the KNVB Beker final, eventually losing against Heerenveen, again on penalties. Twente were pretty much the only team seriously capable of threatening AZ in the race for the league title. Nevertheless, they had to settle for second spot in the end behind the Alkmaar side, but ahead of the traditional powerhouses Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord.

The impressive performances of the Twente players did not go unnoticed in the rest of Europe and the Tukkers’ star players were continually linked with PSV and Ajax, while several foreign teams were keeping tabs on Twente’s key men, too. Chairman Joop Munsterman was reluctant to sell his players to other Dutch teams, thus strengthening their rivals, and Twente eventually cashed in on Eljero Elia (Hamburger SV), Edson Braafheid (Bayern Munich) and Marko Arnautovic (Inter) after foreign teams met the club’s demands. Nevertheless, Twente once again proved extremely efficient in the transfer market and the combination of good scouting and McClaren’s network brought in superb replacements such as Nicky Kuiper, Bryan Ruiz and Chelsea youngster Miroslav Stoch.

The ‘new’ Twente were paired with Portuguese giants Sporting CP in the Champions League and after a 0-0 draw away things were looking good at the Grolsch Veste. An early Douglas opener virtually send them into the final qualifying round, but centre back Peter Wisgerhof ended his side’s Champions League dream with an own goal well into stoppage time, thus sending the Tukkers into the Europa League.

Their European campaign hasn’t exactly been impressive, but they have been top dogs in the Eredivisie so far. Groningen, Heerenveen, AZ and Utrecht are all among the teams that have already been beaten, while PSV and Feyenoord were held to a draw. As a result, Twente are table toppers with 32 points from 12 league games.

It won’t be too much of a surprise that Twente are extremely satisfied with the way things are going under McClaren and the English coach recently opted to answer the Enschede side’s love by signing a contract extension, much to the delight of Twente.

"It goes without saying that FC Twente are delighted Steve has decided to extend his contract. Both parties are very keen for the technical policy of the club to be continued. Steve McClaren is ambitious, FC Twente are ambitious, so it fits," said Twente chairman Joop Munsterman.

Where many expected McClaren to return to England sooner rather than later, the Twente gaffer appears to be quite satisfied in The Netherlands.

“At the moment everything is going well and I'm enjoying myself again. The people here have been very good to me. I've no idea if I'll ever go back to coaching in England. The pressure to do well is always there, but that's a pressure that comes from within. I live in Holland but get home as often as I can and my family come over here a couple of days every fortnight.”

However, it appears to be only a matter of time before Premier League sides come knocking on Twente’s door to lure McClaren back overseas again. The English might not yet be totally convinced that McClaren’s stint in charge at the Three Lions was just a blip in an otherwise successful career, but it can’t be denied that the coach is quickly on his way to salvage his reputation in Holland.

McClaren arrived in Enschede as Wally with the Brolly in 2008, but nobody in Holland would even consider using the unflattering nickname when talking about the Twente gaffer. The Englishman’s presence is one of the main reasons behind Twente’s rise to prominence and McClaren could very well earn himself a new nickname if he is to guide the Tukkers to the Eredivisie title this term. Returning to England as the Emperor of Enschede doesn’t sound too bad of a prospect.  

What are your thoughts on this topic? Does McClaren’s stay at Twente prove that his torrid spell in charge of the Three Lions was just a blip on a successful career? Goal.com wants to know what you think…