Newcastle’s new boss remains one of the most successful English managers working today, eight years after being sacked by England.
Former Newcastle United player Lee Clark has said he believes new Magpies manager Steve McClaren can bring silverware to St James’s Park, in an interview with the Shields Gazette.
42-year-old Clark, who was hoping for a position at Newcastle this summer after leaving Blackpool, has heard plenty of positives things about McClaren from those in the game.
“I know people who have worked with him and everyone holds him in high regard,” the former midfielder told the Gazette.
“I hope he does what he did at Middlesbrough and wins a trophy. I certainly think he can.
“The next man who does it will get that statue built for them outside St James’s Park or in the city centre.
“Whether it’s the League Cup or the FA Cup, it wouldn’t matter.”
As Clark says, McClaren won the League Cup with Middlesbrough in 2004, and went on to contest the Uefa Cup final in 2006. On top of that, the ex England boss managed to win a league title with FC Twente in 2010.
With Newcastle waiting 46 years for any domestic silverware, Clark may well be right that whoever finally puts a new trophy in the cabinet at St James’s Park is sure to be revered.
Why Clark may have a point
McClaren is way ahead of any other English football manager when it comes to success in the last 20 years.
No other Englishman was won a major trophy since 1996, and he was the first manager since 1984 to contest a European final.
With his league win in the Netherlands, he was the first man since Newcastle great Sir Bobby Robson to win a league title in a major European league, including England or Scotland.
This may say more about England’s lack of quality football managers right now than anything else, but they remain positive things to consider when debating whether McClaren is the right man for the club or not.
Newcastle have picked an English manager, and the fact of the matter is, they couldn’t have picked a better one for winning trophies than McClaren.
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