McClaren takes Wolfsburg job

Pa
Tuesday 11 May 2010 11:40 BST
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Wolfsburg today confirmed the appointment of Steve McClaren as coach at the Volkswagen Arena.

Former England boss McClaren has agreed a two-year deal with Wolfsburg which commences on July 1.

The 49-year-old led FC Twente to their first Eredivisie title in the recently completed season.

McClaren will become the first Englishman to take charge of a Bundesliga club and takes over a Wolfsburg side which finished eighth in the recently-completed season a year after winning the title.

McClaren launched his managerial career at Middlesbrough in 2001 after serving as a trusted lieutenant to Jim Smith at Derby and then Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, where he was part of the set-up which claimed an unprecedented treble, included the Champions League, in 1999.

He endured a tough start to life on Teesside, losing each of his first four games, but by the time he left five years later, he had brought the club their first major trophy, the 2004 Carling Cup, their highest Barclays Premier League finish - seventh - and taken them to the UEFA Cup final.

A 4-0 defeat by Sevilla in Eindhoven in that final proved to be his last game in charge when the Football Association appointed him as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor as England boss in August 2006.

However, his reign lasted just 18 games and after a 3-2 Wembley defeat by Croatia ended England's hopes of reaching the finals of Euro 2008, he was relieved of his duties having famously been dubbed "the wally with the brolly".

McClaren was handed a chance to rebuild his career by Twente the following June having been advised by the late Sir Bobby Robson to gain experience abroad as he did, and has quietly and impressively done just that to the point that Wolfsburg were not his only suitors in recent weeks.

At Wolfsburg he will have the chance to work with the likes of Grafite and Edin Dzeko, whose goals took the Wolves to the 2009 title.

Coach Felix Magath moved on to Schalke immediately after that triumph and was replaced by Armin Veh, who was sacked in January because of Wolfsburg's disappointing form.

Lorenz-Gunther Kostner had been in charge since then in an interim capacity.

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