Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
I think it's time that I made my peace with Steve McClaren. On Sunday night, sat in The Balcony off Orchard Road, I was asked what I thought of him and it was a full ten minutes of swearing, gesticulating and a little bit of frothing at the mouth before I realised that everyone around me was looking a bit scared. This festering hatred is no good for my soul, and so I must call an end to the war. I realise that McClaren has probably lived the last two years in total ignorance of my vendetta but, you know, this is good for my karma.
So that's the niceties out of the way, let's get down to business. McClaren has little chance of taking Twente into the Champions League for the first time in their history and every chance of starting his career on the wrong end of a ferocious beating. The Dutch side squeaked into the qualifying rounds by virtue of the quirky Dutch system of European play-offs, where they managed to consign a superior Ajax side to the UEFA Cup. Their best player, the gigantic Orlando Engelaar, has left to join former Twente boss Fred Rutten at Schalke, and without him they will struggle.
McClaren has been fortunate to inheirit a fairly solid squad and he was wise enough to keep the existing backroom staff in place instead of sweeping away their good work and replacing them with an English team who would be as unfamiliar as him with Dutch football. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much in the way of funds to attract any replacements of Engelaar's calibre. Ludicrously uninformed stories appeared on the internet in the summer linking him with Paul Robinson, but the truth is that Twente wouldn't even be able to afford to rent his boots. England internationals earn at least ten times the average wage of a Twente player, so McClaren has had to make do with Slobodan Rajkovic, on loan from the Chelsea youth team after spending last year as a squad player at PSV Eindhoven.
It would take a heart of stone not to feel sorry for McClaren. Twente's place in the Champions League qualifiers was a major selling point for him, but they really have drawn the short straw with a clash against Arsenal. Arsene Wenger's team aren't quite in peak condition yet but by the time the second leg comes around, they certainly will be. The last time McClaren went to Arsenal, with Middlesbrough in 2006, the Gunners won 7-0, so the omens don't look particularly good.
Make no mistake, the former England boss deserves enormous credit for his decision to head off to Holland in an effort to rebuild his reputation. It's long been a bugbear of mine that English managers incessantly moan about foreign bosses coming over to the UK and stealing their jobs when barely any of them can summon up the courage to jump on a plane and beat them at their own game. He's taken a huge risk, but he believes in his own ability and he should be commended for his bravery. I genuinely hope that he does well at FC Twente, but I fear that he'll have to wait until the start of the domestic season to prove his mettle. Arsenal are just too good for Twente.
So that's the niceties out of the way, let's get down to business. McClaren has little chance of taking Twente into the Champions League for the first time in their history and every chance of starting his career on the wrong end of a ferocious beating. The Dutch side squeaked into the qualifying rounds by virtue of the quirky Dutch system of European play-offs, where they managed to consign a superior Ajax side to the UEFA Cup. Their best player, the gigantic Orlando Engelaar, has left to join former Twente boss Fred Rutten at Schalke, and without him they will struggle.
McClaren has been fortunate to inheirit a fairly solid squad and he was wise enough to keep the existing backroom staff in place instead of sweeping away their good work and replacing them with an English team who would be as unfamiliar as him with Dutch football. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much in the way of funds to attract any replacements of Engelaar's calibre. Ludicrously uninformed stories appeared on the internet in the summer linking him with Paul Robinson, but the truth is that Twente wouldn't even be able to afford to rent his boots. England internationals earn at least ten times the average wage of a Twente player, so McClaren has had to make do with Slobodan Rajkovic, on loan from the Chelsea youth team after spending last year as a squad player at PSV Eindhoven.
It would take a heart of stone not to feel sorry for McClaren. Twente's place in the Champions League qualifiers was a major selling point for him, but they really have drawn the short straw with a clash against Arsenal. Arsene Wenger's team aren't quite in peak condition yet but by the time the second leg comes around, they certainly will be. The last time McClaren went to Arsenal, with Middlesbrough in 2006, the Gunners won 7-0, so the omens don't look particularly good.
Make no mistake, the former England boss deserves enormous credit for his decision to head off to Holland in an effort to rebuild his reputation. It's long been a bugbear of mine that English managers incessantly moan about foreign bosses coming over to the UK and stealing their jobs when barely any of them can summon up the courage to jump on a plane and beat them at their own game. He's taken a huge risk, but he believes in his own ability and he should be commended for his bravery. I genuinely hope that he does well at FC Twente, but I fear that he'll have to wait until the start of the domestic season to prove his mettle. Arsenal are just too good for Twente.
