Sunday, 2 May 2010

Wally No More

Why does the England football team have yet another foreign manager? Well, the stick handed out by the fourth estate to every home grown occupant of the hot seat may have something to do with it: the last such, Steve McClaren, was dubbed the “Wally with the Brolly” as he watched his team fail to qualify for Euro 2008 while sheltering beneath an umbrella.

How things change: McClaren took a few months out, got back up, dusted himself down, and went to manage FC Twente, home team of the eastern Netherlands town of Enschede. Twente had never won the Eredivisie (the top flight), although the former England boss saw them into runners up spot in his first season there.

And now they have gone one better, outdoing even the mighty Ajax, now managed by former Spurs boss Martin Jol. Right now, Steve McClaren won’t mind being a wally, with or without the brolly. He’s a winner. Not that there will be too much of that coverage in the UK.

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