Steve McClaren is making the clouds go
away at FC
Twente.
It's worth saying quietly as he was probably the most derided
England manager, possibly ever, certainly since
Graham Taylor. Nonetheless, McClaren has been one of the
unsung success stories in European football this season.
After
taking over at Twente Enschede back in the summer of
2008 after, as
the Independent put it in
one of his few interviews with the English media since moving to
the Netherlands, he left England under a rain cloud, he has
revitalised the club from the rural Eastern part of the
country.
He will be forever remembered for the damning image of him
watching impotently from beneath his
umbrella at Wembley as
England's chances of qualifying for Euro 2008 were washed away by
Croatia.
But if Twente do lift the Dutch title for the first time in 83
years, he might be able to hold his head up high back home
again.
Twente - or the Tukkers, as they are nicknamed - last won the
Eredivisie in 1926, when they were known as Sportclub Enschede. The
closest they had come to repeating that feat before McClaren's
arrival was when they finished runners-up in 1974.
In his first season at the club, McClaren again took them back
to second place, while they also got to the Dutch Cup final and
were very unlucky to miss out on making the Champions League group
stages, losing out on away goals to Sporting Lisbon.
This season, Twente are currently on top of the
Dutch first division at the
halfway point - as they have been from three games into the
campaign - and are unbeaten in their 18 matches.
So how has McClaren done so well in the Netherlands when he was
such a disappointment during his 16-month stint in the England
job?
Well, there are obvious differences in scale between being the
coach of one of the world's leading football nations and a club in
a league that is arguably only the sixth most prestigious or
powerful in Europe - after the big five of England, Spain, Italy,
Germany and France.
Nevertheless, given Twente's resources, with the club
historically overshadowed by the likes of Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV,
McClaren has done a remarkable job, akin to his achievements at
Middlesbrough, and gained huge respect in the Netherlands for his
tactical astuteness.
He also realised that Twente still lacked a little creativity
and firepower up front last season, despite their exploits, and
managed to snatch Costa Rican international Bryan Ruiz from under
the noses of Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar, as well as acquiring the
Slovakian midfielder Miroslav Stoch on loan from Chelsea.
The pair have scored 13 and eight goals respectively so far this
season and have arguably been the best signings in the Eredivisie
this season.
Credit should also go to Twente's seemingly ageless DR
Congo-born Swiss international Blaise Nkufo, who has been scoring
prodigiously since he arrived at the club in 2003. The 34-year-old
striker has also bagged eight goals this season.
If Twente do manage to hold off the challenge of PSV, who are also unbeaten this
term, then history might subsequently be a little kinder to the man
who has been cruelly dubbed
"the wally with the
brolly".
McClaren signed a one-year extension to his contract in October,
which means he is tied to Twente until the end of next season, and
has made no secret of the fact that he would like to lead them in
the Champions League group stages.
However, he has also been open about wanting to make a return to
the Premier League sometime soon.
And it would come as no surprise to see a club pay good money to
bring him back to England this summer.