Steve McClaren

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joeinbrighton

New member
Nov 20, 2012
1,853
Brighton
It seemed obvious McClaren would be re-appointed the moment that Pearson got fired. Pearson clearly was at odds with the chairman/owner there who seemed to admire the style of football under McClaren the first time around and so by re-appointing him, the owner will feel he has someone there he can control.

From Derby's point of view, people can say that McClaren failed in the first spell because they lost the play-off final then choked the following season, but neither of the managers since have taken Derby any further forward and in fact they've gone significantly backwards. Derby have been at their most competitive since they dropped to the Championship 8-9 years ago while he was in charge last time.

McClaren is also back to square one in the sense that when he was appointed there last time his reputation was quite low and he was effectively in the last chance saloon. If he wasn't in the saloon then, he certainly is now. But he's back at the club he knows best. Added to which, the chances of him being poached and taking his eye off the ball would seem far less this time. You can't imagine a Premier League club will be coming calling any time soon.

The one thing that's changed though is that the quality of the team he has now is quite some way from where it was 2-3 years ago, so if he is to get Derby challenging at the top end of the table then his chairman has got to back him in the transfer market too. I think it won't be until next season that Derby are going to be equipped to compete, but they should be comfortable enough in mid-table at the end of the season.
 








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