While there were undoubtedly many enormous lows during the Mike Ashley reign at St James’ Park…
There was never anything more underwhelming than his choice of Newcastle United managers, which repeatedly gave the signal to supporters, as if we weren’t aware already, of just how limited his ambitions for the football club were.
One such appointment was that of Steve McClaren in the summer of 2015.
Having narrowly avoided relegation on the final day of the previous season with a 2-0 win over West Ham United, some Newcastle United fans were feeling cautiously optimistic after some uncharacteristically bullish comments from owner Mike Ashley, stating he would not be leaving the club until we won something, or qualified for the UEFA Champions League.
However, Ashley followed that statement of intent with one of the most baffling managerial appointments of all time.
In the summer of 2015, Newcastle United not only appointed Steve McClaren as manager of the club, but also appointed him to the board of directors.
Now once upon a time McClaren had been considered one of the most promising young managers in the game. A reputation as an outstanding coach forged alongside Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United won an unprecedented treble in 1999, had seen him appointed manager of Middlesbrough in the summer of 2001. He would stay there for five years and while there were undoubtedly lows during his time on Teesside, there were also some significant highs, with McClaren leading the club to their first ever major trophy, winning the League Cup in 2004, before two seasons later reaching the UEFA Cup final.
Those accomplishments would see him appointed manager of England in 2006, after a number of seasons assisting the outgoing Sven-Goran Eriksson.
His time in charge of his country was little short of a disaster, with England failing to qualify for Euro 2008, the first time they had failed to qualify for a major tournament since the 1994 World Cup.
Despite this major setback McClaren was soon back in the game, choosing to follow in the footsteps of Sir Bobby Robson and test himself abroad, being appointed manager of Dutch side FC Twente in the summer of 2008. His two years in Holland were a stunning success. In his first season in charge, Twente finished in second place in the league and reached the Dutch Cup final before losing on penalties to Heerenveen. However, the following season would prove to be nothing short of outstanding and undoubtedly remains the highlight of McClaren’s career in coaching and management. Losing just two games in the league all season, Twente pipped Dutch giants Ajax to the title by a single point, winning their first, and currently only, league title to date.
After that remarkable achievement, McClaren was understandably starting to attract attention from further afield and he left Holland that summer to take up a new post in the Bundesliga with German giants, Wolfsburg.
Unfortunately, this post wouldn’t last long, as Steve McClaren was sacked in the February after winning just seven of 24 games.
Following these adventures abroad, McClaren returned to England and was appointed manager of sleeping giant Nottingham Forest in June 2011.
This was undoubtedly McClaren’s worst spell in club management to that point, and he only made it into October by the skin of his teeth, before being sacked after winning just three games.
Despite the disappointments of his previous two jobs, the reputation he had garnered at Boro and Twente ensured he still found himself in demand and in January 2012 he returned to the comfort blanket of FC Twente, stating his ambition to win another league title. As is so often the case when a manager returns to a previous club, Steve McClaren was unable to match the success of his previous spell and was relieved of his duties the following February.
It was back to England once more with McClaren then taking the reins at Derby County in September 2013, following the sacking of Nigel Clough. McClaren made an instant impact, leading Derby up the table and finishing the season with five wins and a draw to take their place in the Play-Offs. After seeing off Brighton in stunning fashion in the semi-finals, winning 6-2 on aggregate, McClaren’s side booked a place at Wembley to face off against Harry Redknapp’s Queens Park Rangers. Unfortunately, though McClaren would experience yet more Wembley heartache with a late Bobby Zamora goal consigning Derby to another season in the second tier.
Despite this agonising defeat, many observers were impressed with the work McClaren had done at Derby and his name was already one that was starting to be linked to Newcastle United even though Alan Pardew was still in post.
McClaren continued this excellent work in to the following season and after a 2-0 victory over Charlton Athletic, Derby sat proudly at the top of the Championship table with 13 league games to go.
What followed was nothing short of a disaster. Of those remaining 13 games, Derby would taste victory only twice, drawing six and losing five, which not only saw them fall from the top of the table but miss out on the Play-Offs completely.
He was relieved of his duties as a result of that failure with McClaren even referencing the links to Newcastle in his statement afterwards, saying they had no bearing on Derby’s catastrophic loss of form.
I can only imagine Mike Ashley must have been licking his lips at the prospect of being able to appoint a manager which he had clearly coveted, without having to pay any compensation to buy him out of his contract.
And so it was, that just over two weeks after being sacked by Derby County, the announcement came confirming that Steve McClaren was set to be the new boss at Newcastle United.
While the appointment left supporters feeling genuinely dismayed, Mike Ashley did at least keep one promise, opening the coffers properly for the first time in a number of years, bringing in Aleksander Mitrovic, Georginio Wijnaldum, Florian Thauvin and Chancel Mbemba.
Despite that investment, it never looked like it was going to be enough with Newcastle United and Steve McClaren getting off to a dismal start, failing to register a victory in their first eight league games, drawing five and losing three.
However after a 6-1 thrashing by Manchester City, Newcastle returned seemingly rejuvenated following the international break, thrashing Norwich City 6-2 in front of a jubilant St James Park with Gini Wijnaldum scoring four and Ayoze Perez and Mitrovic also on the scoresheet.
Perhaps a corner had been turned with the new signings among the goals and starting to settle.
Well the side were soon brought back down to earth with a sickening bump with a demoralising 3-0 defeat away at Sunderland the following week.
In truth, it always felt like one step forward and two steps back under McClaren. There was another false dawn after back to back wins over Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur were swiftly followed by toothless defeats to Everton and West Bromwich Albion.
A brutal 5-1 defeat away at Chelsea in the middle of February 2016 was when many supporters felt the end should have come for McClaren. Due to an international break following that game, there was nearly three weeks before the side’s next fixture away at Stoke City. It seemed like the ideal time to dispense with his services and give a new boss time to bed in ahead of the season run in. Instead, McClaren clung on and a devastatingly bad performance at home against Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth was enough to seal his fate.
Looking back on his reign, it was obvious to everyone almost from day one that Steve McClaren was going to be out of his depth and with the benefit of hindsight. the decision to appoint him looks completely ludicrous.
Remarkably. McClaren found himself back in charge of Derby less than six months later but had been sacked again by the following March.
His final job in club management (to date at least) saw him spend a season at QPR.
This was followed by a return to Old Trafford as one of Erik ten Hag’s assistant coaches (Ten Haag had actually been McClaren’s assistant during his first spell in charge of FC Twente). McClaren enjoyed success with Man United winning the League Cup (beating Newcastle) and the FA Cup before leaving in the summer of 2024.
There then followed a quite remarkable spell as boss of the Jamaican national football team, as McClaren chose to dip his toe back into the waters of international management.
He enjoyed a fantastic start to his time in charge of the Reggae Boys, leading them to the brink of qualification for the 2026 World Cup. All he needed was one victory from their final two group games against Trinidad and Tobago and Curucao to secure their place at the tournament. Unfortunately, back to back draws saw them miss out, and although Jamaica still have a chance to qualify through a play-off, Steve McClaren decided to step down from his post.
And as it stands, that’s where his career in management has ended. One that promised so much, delivered some notable achievements, but ultimately failed more often than not.