European football offers a safe haven for English managers struggling

For Steve McClaren, that fateful Wembley night against Croatia in 2007 proved to be a blessing in disguise. Since his sacking as England manager, the ‘Wally with a Brolly’ has gone from zero to hero, culminating in the capture of a first Eredivisie crown for FC Twente after only two seasons at the helm of the Dutch club. His success at Twente hasn’t gone unnoticed amongst the European football elite and McClaren was hot property for a number of top coaching jobs. After much speculation, McClaren left his post at FC Twente at the end of the season and moved to Germany to take over the reins at another provincial powerhouse, Vfl Wolfsburg.

Another ex-England manager who has enjoyed continental success is the late, great Bobby Robson. Like McClaren, Robson left his post as England manager to manage in Holland with PSV Eindhoven, winning the league twice in a row in 1991 and 1992. Robson then moved on to Portugal; first with Sporting and then to rivals Porto where he also won back-to-back titles in 1995 and 1996. His success in Portugal attracted the attention of Barcelona who offered him a job at the Camp Nou where he won a domestic and European cup treble in 1997, his only season in charge of the Catalan giants.

What unites McClaren and Robson is the fact that they were forced into continental management after their leaving their posts as national team manager. Robson left following England’s semi-final defeat to Germany at Italia ’90 while McClaren was given the sack after his England side failed to qualify for Euro 2008. It seems that continental management is an option that ousted England managers have to take rather than want to take if they want to rebuild their reputation.

For McClaren and Robson, European management served as a vindication of their managerial skills following disappointment stints with England. It offered them a chance of redemption in the eyes of the British people. For McClaren especially, his success with Twente is all the more sweet following the vilification he suffered at the hands of the English press. For Roy Hodgson, coaching abroad wasn’t about restoring his reputation, it was about building one.

The new Liverpool boss started his managerial career in Sweden with Halmstad before taking charge of clubs in Norway, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy while also managing the national sides of Switzerland, UAE and Finland along the way. Hodgson used his extensive knowledge gained on his travels to guide an unfancied Fulham team to last season’s UEFA cup final and a 7th place league finish the season before last.

Now that opportunities for English managers in the top tier of English football are getting scarcer and scarcer, looking abroad for employment is something that English managers should seriously consider.

Who knows? You might just make a name for yourself.