McClaren’s Exit Causes Forest Chairman to Walk out of Door
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October 3, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Steve McClaren, with the chairman to follow, last night walked out of Nottingham Forest as turbulent period continues for club.
On May 4 2006 Steve McClaren was on the crest of a wave.
After making his name as assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford, McClaren took over the reigns at Middlesbrough where he won the Carling Cup and guided his team to the 2006 UEFA Cup final where they lost 4-0 to Spanish side Sevilla.
Despite visibly not being the FA’s first choice - Brazilian Luis Felipe Scolari had already turned down the role - he was appointed as Sven Goran Eriksson’s successor as England manager.
Fast forward 15 months and an embarrassing home defeat to Croatia in the tumbling rain costs England their place at the 2008 European Championships and McClaren his job.
So off he went to FC Twente where he rebuilt his reputation via a Dutch Cup final and the first league title in their history.
Via an ill-fated time in German football with Wolfsburg, McClaren wound up at Nottingham Forest this summer as a replacement for Billy Davies.
Under the Scotsman, Forest had lost in two successive Championship play-off campaigns at the semi-final stage and McClaren’s remit was to improve that position.
But10 games into the season the club sit one place above the relegation zone on eight points having scored 10 goals and conceded 21.
After a 3-1 home defeat to Birmingham on Sunday, in which Forest had led 1-0 until the 75th minute, the boos and chants of “out” ringing around the City Ground were deafening. Despondent and almost depressed-looking, McClaren threw a piece of chewing gum to the floor and all did not look well. Within three hours he was gone after just 112 days in the job.
What is most prevalent from the whole issue is that he wasn’t given much chance from the start. Interviewing fans outside the stadium this morning, one told the Sky Sports News cameras: “Steve McClaren is not a man that English football fans want managing their club.”
Yet if you look at his time at Middlesbrough, considering the budgets he was working under, his record is impressive. He won the club’s first major piece of silverware in their history and took them to a European final most fans would have previously considered to be only a pipe dream.
His win record at the club stood at an unspectacular win percentage of 38.8%, but this should be considered next to Bryan Robson, who many see as a saviour of the club between 1994 and 2001, as Robson only achieved 37.5%. Then you had McClaren’s successor Gareth Southgate (29.3%) and the disastrous tenure of Gordon Strachan (28.26%).
His win record at Twente was a very high 63.37% and included 64 wins, 21 draws and just 16 defeats in 101 matches. His side played attractive football and wrestled the Dutch League title away from the likes of PSV, Ajax and AZ Alkmaar.
His England win record stood at 50%, but a home draw against Andorra, defeats home and away to Croatia, an away defeat to Russia and a demoralising friendly defeat to arch rivals Germany put paid to his time there.
It seems that one period on his CV is going to prevent him taking any position in English football without a clamour of distaste pointing at that night in the Wembley rain where he stood emotionless under an umbrella as Scott Carson’s untimely howler helped Croatia to a famous 3-2 win.
Chairman Nigel Doughty has also announced he will step down at the end of the season as he feels he needs to shoulder some of the blame over his decision to appoint McClaren. While some Forest fans feel Doughty’s backing of the club has been below their expectations over recent years, it is undoubtedly true that had he not appointed England’s “most hated man” he wouldn’t right now be searching for his own successor.
By Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Fakwes]
