Steve McClaren: Derby County set to make ex-England coach technical director
- Published
Steve McClaren has been out of football since being sacked as QPR manager on 1 April 2019
Two-time Derby County manager Steve McClaren has returned to the club after more than three years away and is set to become technical director.
The former England boss, 59, will be an advisor to the club's current board and will take up his new role permanently when a planned takeover goes through.
Derventio Holdings, run by Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is in the process of buying the club.
The Rams are looking for a new manager after Phillip Cocu left this month.
Former England striker Wayne Rooney is currently in joint caretaker charge of the Rams alongside Liam Rosenior, Shay Given and Justin Walker, with Derby bottom of the Championship having won just once this season.
They have not scored for three games and have not found the net more than once in a game since the final match of last season.
"We are delighted to have Steve's help and support at this critical time," Derby chief executive Stephen Pearce told the club website., external
"His knowledge, experience, and academic qualifications will be invaluable to us. I am sure he will make a huge contribution."
McClaren is set to be in charge of all footballing operations at the Championship club and will mentor Rooney and fellow coaches Rosenior, Given and Walker while they are temporarily leading the first team.
He has a long history with Derby having first been a player at the club in the mid-1980s before being assistant manager to Jim Smith as the club won promotion to the Premier League in 1995.
McClaren left the club in 1999 to become Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United and returned as manager in 2013 after spells in charge of Middlesbrough, England, FC Twente, Wolfsburg and Nottingham Forest.
He was sacked by Derby in May 2015, but returned 16 months later for a five-month spell at the helm.
'Romance' to McClaren's return - analysis
BBC Radio Derby's Rams commentator Ed Dawes
Steve McClaren's time at Derby County brought supporters success and heartbreak. The romance of his return gives you a sense that he's not quite done with the place.
His triumphant return as manager in 2013 signalled a new start for the Rams. His additions to predecessor Nigel Clough's squad shot Derby up the Championship and into in the play-off final, only to be beaten at the death of a game they dominated by QPR's Bobby Zamora.
The following season there was great expectation and McClaren had Derby qualifying for the play-offs again before his side lost to Reading on the final day and finished eighth.
His links to the Newcastle United job unsettled supporters and players, as he failed to distance himself from it. He was eventually sacked.
The comeback king returned again in October 2016 after Nigel Pearson was dismissed. He lasted five months and departed after a 3-0 defeat at Brighton having won eight games in a nine-match unbeaten run at the start of his second spell.
He lost only 31 of 124 matches in his two managerial spells and there is no doubt he has the ability to get people playing exciting attacking football.
His re-emergence is not surprising to me considering the youthful exuberance of Liam Rosenior and Wayne Rooney as interim coaches.
It makes sense to give this duo a chance to succeed because new owners who want to market Derby County around the world will want an iconic manager.
Rooney could be that man and McClaren has the coaching experience Rooney is missing. Derby need a positive, they are bottom of the table and need points.