In his first season in charge, McLaren did the unthinkable and won the title, losing only twice all season and managing to, whether luckily or not, to play nine players in thirty or more games. It is this latter point which will so interest Forest supporters who, for the past three seasons, have watched the insane squad rotational policy of Billy Davies, which in the light of the criminal lack of goals from the strikers last season, must be a mitigating factor.
Despite the obvious advantages of securing the services of a manager of Steve McLaren’s undoubted ability most fans will no doubt question, if not protest against, the decision. Football fans are a traditionally fickle bunch and will only see McLaren’s short and unsuccessful spell as England manager as his only gift to football. His time as England boss was a complete disaster, he will be the first one to admit this, but this thankfully is not his only contribution to football, nor should he be constantly vilified for this tenure either. Although Capello’s men qualified for the last World Cup, their performance in South Africa was arguably a bigger disgrace, given the form, fitness and hype in which they were they were given before they kicked their first ball.
McLaren has been given a chance to, in part at least, put to bed some of the demons of his past. Most of the football community (mainly amongst the broadsheets), upon being replaced as England manager, thought that McLaren just wasn’t up to the job, not a useless manager as some would suggest. In many circles, McLaren is thought of as being an excellent coach rather than being a skilled motivator, something which can partially explain his tenure as national coach, which arguably requires a certain amount of motivation above all else.
For Forest and McLaren the close season brings with it the chance to add to an already bountiful team. As previously stated, McLaren’s first job will be to ensure that Lee Camp, who can rightly claim to be the best stopper outside the top flight, stays at the club. McLaren’s knowledge of Dutch football could see him bring in quality from the Continent, maybe even enticing one or two of his title-winning team to his new project.
McLaren’s first job though will be to answer his critics. August cannot come soon enough for him to prove to the nation that assisting Alex Ferguson to five major titles, including the Champions League, taking Middlesborough to three cup finals in one season and becoming the first English manager since Bobby Robson in 1996 to win a major European League, was a fluke. If this was indeed a fluke, I cannot wait for the real thing.
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Its Steve McClaren!
He’s a good manager, despite the England blip on his record, but let’s face facts…the Three Lions are a poor side. Look at Capello’s CV, he can’t get anything decent from the same bunch of perennial time wasters either.
Why dont you look at a certain Billy Davies record and compare the two?
We lost a good manager and gained a yes man McClueless!David Pleat will be over the moon the bookies have dropped us from 4-1 to 14-1 what else do you want to compare???
Lack of season ticket sales maybe compared to last year