McClaren backed to be a huge success at Newcastle

McClaren will be confirmed as Newcastle’s new head coach later this week, but his failings in charge of England and subsequent struggles with Nottingham Forest and Derby County mean his appointment is unlikely to be universally welcomed on Tyneside.

Malcolm Crosby worked with McClaren when the future Magpies boss took on his first backroom role as the youth coach at Oxford United, and the pair were reunited at Middlesbrough as the Teessiders embarked on a remarkable two-year spell that saw them win the Carling Cup and contest the UEFA Cup final.

Crosby, who was unveiled as Vanarama Conference side Gateshead’s new manager yesterday, regards McClaren as one of England’s finest coaches, and is convinced he would leading one of the Premier League’s title contenders if the opportunity to manage the national team had not come up at such an early stage of his career.

“People have missed the boat with Steve,” said Crosby, who has just returned from Crete, where McClaren is also holidaying prior to taking over at St James’ Park. “They really have because he is such a good manager.

“I just think the England job came at a bad time. If he had been a manager for another three or four years, he would probably be at a really top club now. Instead, he took the England job and I suppose you are not going to say no because you may never get that opportunity again.

“I understand why he took it, but whereas his achievements with Boro were appreciated, getting the England job did not help him.

“He had one of the best chairmen you will ever get to work under (Steve Gibson), and it was just unfortunate that the biggest job in the country came up.

“For me, if he had not taken that, he would have ended up managing a Man United or a Man City. He is certainly one of the best coaches I have worked with because he organises teams well and gets the best out of players.”

Crosby was Boro’s reserve-team coach when McClaren was offered the opportunity to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager, and the former Sunderland boss recommended he turned down the offer because of the inevitable pressures it would entail.

A year and a half after taking charge of the national team, McClaren was dismissed when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, and while the 54-year-old has subsequently rebuilt his reputation abroad courtesy of an Eridivisie title with FC Twente and a spell in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg, it is perhaps telling that he has had to wait until now for the offer of a return to the Premier League.

Some might claim that the political backdrop to life at Newcastle makes his new position as much of a poisoned chalice as the England role, but Crosby disagrees and expects McClaren to prove a huge success on Tyneside.

“When England came in, the first thing I said to him was, ‘Are you crackers’, he said. “But I don’t think that’s the case (with Newcastle) and I think he will do well with them. He will get them right, get them organised and make them a harder team to play against.”

It is McClaren’s hard-earned reputation as a talented and innovative coach that has persuaded managing director Lee Charnley and chief scout Graham Carr to install him at the head of Newcastle’s coaching structure, and Crosby’s five-year spell at Middlesbrough enabled him to witness the Yorkshireman’s methods at first hand.

Having honed his training techniques alongside Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, McClaren helped transform Middlesbrough’s fortunes and oversaw the development of a group of young players who would go on to win international honours after progressing from the Rockliffe Park academy.

While Gibson’s largesse resulted in the arrival of some big-money signings, McClaren was always keen to promote from within, culminating in the 2006 game against Fulham that saw Middlesbrough name a 16-man squad containing 15 players who were born within a 30-mile radius of the Riverside.

“When Steve asked me to come in (at Middlesbrough), he said, ‘I’ve got a good group of lads and I want you to push them on’,” said Crosby. “Within three months, five or six of them were with him (in the first team).

“That was not all down to me – it was because of their attitude and ability to do it – but it was also because he was always looking to give them a chance.

“They were a good group and, as a coach, it was pretty easy to coach them because he had helped instil them with such desire. It was a great job working with them.”