Steve McClaren

	Steve McClaren Born 3rd May 1961

From November 2000 to July 2006 McClaren held the position of senior national team coach to the England football team, first under caretaker-manager Peter Taylor before being given the position on a permanent basis by Sven-Göran Eriksson.

In early 2006, Eriksson announced that he would be quitting as manager of the England team, after the 2006 World Cup, and McClaren was placed on the Football Association's shortlist alongside Luiz Felipe Scolari, Martin O'Neill, Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley. For a time it looked like Scolari would become England's new manager but he lost interest in the job due to media intrusion. McClaren was subsequently named as Eriksson's successor in May 2006. McClaren's appointment was praised by the likes of Alan Hansen, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Trevor Brooking. McClaren took over the job on 1 August 2006 with a four-year contract, with former England coach Terry Venables as his assistant.

McClarens first job was to choose the new England captain. He decided to give the arm band to John Terry, the Chelsea defender and captain who at the time had 24 England caps, saying "I'm convinced he will prove to be one of the best captains England has ever had." In his first squad, McClaren dropped many of the national team's older players including Sol Campbell, David James and former captain David Beckham, saying he was planning for "a different direction." However, McClaren stated that there was still a chance that Beckham could be recalled in the future. After initially starting well with three wins, England hit a poor run of form between October 2006 and March 2007 with only one goal scored in five matches. During a European qualifier match against minnows Andorra in March 2007, McClaren and the England team received abuse from supporters during a poor performance in a 3-0 win. McClaren walked out of the post-match press conference following the Andorra game after only two minutes of questions, saying, "Gentlemen, if you want to write whatever you want to write, you can write it because that is all I am going to say. Thank you." England had fallen to fourth in their qualification group.

In May 2007, McClaren made a u-turn by recalling Beckham into the England squad. England subsequently had a run of four wins from six matches, which boosted the country's hopes of qualification for Euro 2008 before a defeat against Russia in October 2007, causing England's qualification fate to fall out of their hands. The FA's chief executive, Brian Barwick, gave his backing to McClaren, despite the defeat. McClaren was also backed by players Phil Neville and Steven Gerrard, his predecessor Eriksson, and the chief executive of the League Managers Association John Barnwell.

The results of other matches in England's qualification group meant that England would qualify if undefeated in their final group match against Croatia. The match was played at Wembley on 21 November 2007 and England lost 3-2; coupled with Russia's victory over Andorra, this meant that England would not be at Euro 2008. It was the first time in 14 years that England had not qualified for a major tournament, and the first time in 24 years that they had not qualified for the European Championships.

The following day, the FA held an emergency meeting at which McClaren was removed from the post of England coach along with his assistant manager Terry Venables. McClaren's tenure was the shortest of any England manager to date, spanning just 18 games in 16 months. On 14 December 2007, it was announced his post had been taken up by Fabio Capello commencing from 7 January 2008.

McClaren announced in February 2008 he would consider managing in either the Championship or abroad in his next job.

Overall England Performance

P	W	D	L	F	A	Win%
18	9	5	4	32	12	50.00

Win	50.00%
Draw	27.77%
Loss	22.23%

Preceded by Sven-Göran Eriksson
Succeeded by Fabio Capello