The luck of the draw

I'm not quite sure how to say this, so I'll just go ahead and say it; I actually feel sorry for Steve McClaren. Please don't get my wrong, his tenure as England manager was a total and unequivocal disaster. McClaren thoroughly deserved the sack and most of the fierce criticism. But today I have a lot of sympathy for the man. McClaren's new side, Dutch outfit FC Twente have been drawn against Arsenal in the Champions League qualifiers, one of the two opponents he would have surely wanted to avoid at this stage (Liverpool being the other).

After the debacle of his England reign, McClaren did the right things in my opinion. Firstly, he admitted he was to blame when he said; "I can't criticise anybody. I said at the beginning it is my responsibility. I live or die by results and the results haven't gone my way." Secondly, McClaren lay low after his England exit and kept himself to himself to allow things to blow over. Although his decision to commentate for BBC Radio 5 Live at Euro 2008 was an incredibly bad one, he was more or less returning to the scene of the crime.

However, McClaren's best decision by far was accepting the offer from FC Twente to become their new manager. By doing this McClaren will immerse himself in a different footballing culture, which can only make him a better manager and this is something he has acknowledged; "Dutch football and English football are very different but that's why I'm here - to sample a different culture and continue my education and improve as a coach. Just working in one country can narrow your mind and I wanted to open mine." Nevertheless, the main reason this is a good decision for McClaren is that he can slowly rebuild his shattered reputation away from England, and perhaps more importantly, away from the English media. I think it's a shame his first test as FC Twente manager will be against an English side, a side that FC Twente will have no chance of beating, even if a miracle worker was in charge. Expect the tabloids to have a field day.

Good luck Steve, you'll need it!