England expects

IT HAS been called the impossible job.

Previous incumbents have been ridiculed, scandalised, castigated and abused.

Now York's Steve McClaren steps up to have his shot - the chance to lead England's football side to glory as manager.

How will he fare? The sheer scale of the job in hand is revealed by looking at his predecessors.

Sir Alf Ramsey won the 1966 World Cup - but it still all ended in tears eight years later. Graham Taylor was likened to a turnip, Glenn Hoddle was undone by God and Sven met his end at the hands of a fake sheikh. So why on earth would McClaren want the job - bringing with it the intrusion of the press and the expectations of an eager, yet impatient, public?

Malcolm Huntington, former Press sports editor, has known McClaren for more than 30 years having covered his sporting triumphs since childhood.

The sports mad youngster regularly popped up in the pages of The Press in his teens after winning football, tennis and squash honours with alacrity.

Mr Huntington also followed McClaren's footballing career as it took him from Hull to Derby, to Bristol City and finally to Oxford.

He believes McClaren has everything in his favour as he takes on football's top job. "He knows the players and they know him. He is well thought of throughout England as a coach," he said.

"He was a talented all round sportsman from an early age. He was good enough to win York under 14s tennis championship. I am very pleased for him and I hope he will do extremely well."

While McClaren may know the players, more importantly, it also seems he has their respect. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is just one of the England stars who have been advocating the Middlesbrough manager.

"I think he would be a good choice," he said before the appointment. "I have been fortunate to work with Steve McClaren for quite a few years with England and from working with him I know what a good coach he is, what a good manager for Middlesbrough he is and what a good manager he will be if appointed."

High praise indeed. So what is it about McClaren that has finally wowed the Football Association in his favour?

One of his former teachers at York's Nunthorpe School, former head of PE Peter Bibby, thinks he has the answer. "He was always the type of lad who would lead by example," he said.

" When he was at Derby and Manchester United (as a coach) he was regarded as a great thinker on the game. It wouldn't surprise me if he surprised a few people.

"I am a little disappointed they didn't go straight for him (Portugal manager Luis Felipe Scolari was the FA's first choice)."

McClaren's skill and talent for the game were evident from a very early stage. At Nunthorpe, where he represented many sports teams, a report in a school magazine for under 13 soccer - produced at the end of the school year in 1974 - revealed:

"McClaren was by far the outstanding player of the team. He is the most promising footballer I have seen at Nunthorpe and it is difficult to find fault with his football skills."

Injury ended McClaren's career as a player at an early age, but that opened the door into coaching - starting at Oxford United and moving on to Derby County and Manchester United, before Middlesbrough came calling.

Former boss at Derby, Jim Smith, said: "He's a bright, astute young man and I'm sure he'd do well (for England).

"He knows the players, he knows the system and he is a very good manager and coach."

He also has the backing of the present manager Sven Goran Eriksson. "I have always said he is a very good coach. As a coach, he has been perfect. Every time."

During his five years at Middlesbrough, McClaren has become the club's most successful ever manager. Two years ago, he guided Boro to their first major trophy - masterminding a 2-1 win in the Carling Cup Final against Bolton.

On Wednesday, Boro go to Eindhoven for McClaren's final match in charge, the Uefa Cup final against Seville.

It's those stats which have propelled McClaren ahead of Bolton's Sam Allardyce, Charlton's Alan Curbishley and Manchester City's Stuart Pearce.

When critics question his experience they often forget that, leaving aside his five years in charge of Boro, McClaren has been in coaching for the best part of two decades - honing the skills which have now seen his propulsion to England boss.

He's regarded within the FA as a safe pair of hands and a clever coach with superb knowledge of the game and a knack for embracing new technology.

Importantly, he can also make things happen - as Middlesbrough's astonishing Uefa Cup comebacks against Basel and Steaua Bucharest clearly reveal.

Just over two months ago, he seemed completely out of the England frame after a 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa saw a fan run down the touchline and hurl his season ticket at the then embattled Boro boss. He's come a long way in the last few weeks.

But resilience is also one of McClaren's key characteristics, combined with a quiet determination, and helps him achieve results despite the pressure - a vital skill in the pressure cooker atmosphere, and media funfare, which is the England job.

According to Mark Burbidge, who played with McClaren as a junior in a cub scout side, the new England boss was showing his tactical acumen from the very beginning.

"He was an absolutely brilliant player, of course everyone will say that now," Mark, who lives in Clifton, said. "But I do seem to recall he had quite firm rules on the style of football and the tactics we would play. He was about 11 then. He would go round people as if they weren't there. He was quiet and didn't bang the drum. He chose his words carefully. I am really pleased for him. The England job is tremendous news."

With Andorra providing a rather straight forward test for McClaren's first competitive match at the helm of England, it is likely the honeymoon period following his appointment will continue - at least until the end of the year.

His first match as head coach will be against the European champions Greece, at Old Trafford, on August 16, in a friendly.

Since neighbours first remember him kicking a football along the kerb in Rose Street, McClaren's career has headed on an upward curve. Now he has the chance to write himself into football folklore - and who in the city where he grew up would begrudge him that?

Updated: 09:42 Friday, May 05, 2006