West Ham To Replace Manager Gianfranco Zola With Steve McClaren?

Chris Wright

20th, April 2010

10 Comments

By Chris Wright

A timeless image

Hold to your bowels people – There’s a ‘MIRROR EXCLUSIVE’ heading your way! FC Twente coach Steve McClaren has been apparently been installed as the favourite to take over the reigns at West Ham should current manager Gianfranco Zola be sacked at the end of the season.

However, The Hammers will have to stay up to convince McClaren to return to the Premier League, as the former England manager is currently enjoying a highly successful spell in the Dutch league which sees his Twente side just one win away from winning the Eredivisie title.

I’d like to open this up to the West Ham fans out there if I may.

It seems Zola’s fate is already sealed, so is McClaren the man to take your club forward? I think I can probably guess your answer to that one – but remember ‘Schteve’ did do a great job at club level with Middlesbrough before his ill-fated England stint.

And if the idea of McClaren repulses you to the point of vomiting, who do you want to see appointed?

Posted in West Ham Utd

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10 Comments

  1. bezhammer says:

    steve mclaren had agreed a deal to manage us prior to taking over at ‘boro. if we weren’t good enough then we aren’t now quite frankly he’s not to be trusted & even i could manage in the dutch league!! personally i would like to see alan pardew back at west ham

  2. Obama is a hammer says:

    I’d take anyone over zola. ANYONE!
    I dont think mcclaren would be a bad appointment, I thought he was a dumbass after his england escapades but he did well with boro and is smashing it in the mediocre dutch league. Its either him, martin jol or someone I’ve never heard of from a lower league. He’s prob the best choice out there. Oh yeah, and of course he’s english which is a rareity in this league these days.
    I’m still waiting for mourinho to admit his love for us..

  3. Steve says:

    Shit article, no substance, shit website.

  4. sirreg says:

    McClaren obviously has some coaching talent as his past roles indicate: assistant at Man Utd, and then successful stints managing Middlesbrough and now Twente. His days in the English game though are truly over – his reputation here is ruined forever. That might be an indication as to why he is doing so well in Holland – the Dutch players can still take him seriously as they weren’t there to witness this country (rightly or not) destroy the man’s reputation through overwhelming pressure and the media..? Just a thought.

  5. kct says:

    “Personally” I would like to see Bezhammer managing in the dutch league. I am a young british expat currently living in The Netherlands and I can assure you the Dutch league is very good. There’s a fine mix between extremely talented young players and less talented yet more experienced older players. Bezhamer here are some players you could have managed in the past: Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie, Vermaelen, Kuyt,Van der Vaart, De Jong, ibrahimovic, Van Nistelrooij. These are all players that enjoyed a good couple of years in Holland.

    McClaren is doing an incredible job at Fc Twente. He does not have the players or money Ajax or PSV has, which makes it even more unbelievable. He made a hash of the England job because he trusted the players. As a club manager he is an addition to any english team especially west ham. Nevertheless, it’s more fun to jump on the anti McClaren Bandwagon than making up your own mind though isn’t it;)

  6. Chris says:

    @sirreg: Good point, well made. The bias is perhaps unfair but I’m afraid he’s never going to shake off the ‘wally with a brolly’ tag.

  7. Whitey says:

    Has to be Super Slav

    Can you imagine the players getting away with a performance like last night with him prowling up and down the touchline.

    Super Slav’s Claret & Blue Army !

  8. hollis says:

    Kevin Keen!

    He’s got more experience at club management than Zola did with 3 stints as caretaker manager, 2 of them in the Prem(or I’m wrong). And he bleeds Claret n Blue.

    What realistic options do West Ham have? McClaren would be under entirely too much media pressure and Super Slav has previously turned us down. Megson? Hughes? Southgate? Coleman? Not linked with us yet, but probably will soon be.

    We’re in a bad way, but that’s fine. Appeals to the inner masochist in every West Ham fan.

  9. Joe says:

    I never really understood what the whole anti-McClaren thing was about. It was the complete not botheredness of key players (Fat Lampard being the main culprit) combined with some unlucky injuries that cost England the spot at Euro 2008. McClaren actually made a few shrewd moves (Barry in midfield, Heskey up front) that have been carried over by the Cabbage Man. In two seasons he’s turned a provincial club into title contenders, not unlike a certain Mr. Clough back in the day.

    PS, Bez, you’re an idiot. The Eredivisie actually has a higher standard of football than much of the prem. It’s also by far the best development league in the world. Most teams in Holland would make short work out of West Ham, or Wigan, Wolves, Burnley, Stoke, Bolton…

  10. Jay says:

    Honestly to anyone who supports the eredvisie over most premiership clubs, the differences are astounding. Don’t get me wrong, the eredvisie is still relatively respectable, however its quality has definitely deteriorated since the golden days of Guus Hiddink at PSV and Koeman at Ajax. Big players like van der vaart,ibra, robben, sneijder etc were big stars in the eredvisie back then. Recently the eredvisie has had a steady drop in talent. This however, did not stop louis van gaal from grabbing the bayern job, and now they’re in the grasp of a european double (though that’s hilariously doubtful). Not saying that Mcclaren is as good as van gaal, but he could definitely be brought into a bigger league for a mid-tier club like west ham. Also even though the media still pegs mcclaren as a poor manager, it’s not like other managers or even players in the past have faced the media scrutiny. For one example, remember lampards spat about his family life? or even sven erikkson’s chat with roman abramovich? no? well that’s because eventually juicier stories come to fruition (haha puns) and i’m positive that after the world cup, mcclaren would be black listed a little still, but not half as badly as before.

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