Wolfsburg's pick
May 11, 2010
Steve McClaren, has confirmed that he has signed a two-year contract to coach Bundesliga soccer team Wolfsburg. McClaren, 49, spent the last two years at the once obscure Dutch club FC Twente, which he led to its first ever league title.
"I had two fantastic years at Twente with a fabulous end," McClaren told Dutch newspaper TC Tubantia in its Tuesday edition. "Now we will all move to Germany."
McClaren speaks no German, but Wolfsburg manager Dieter Hoeness downplayed the problem, saying McClaren's "strong personality" would get his message across. He starts on July 1.
Under the deal, McClaren is to earn an annual salary of three million euros. McClaren succeeds interim coach Lorenz-Guenther Koestner, who had led the team since Coach Armin Veh was sacked midway through last season.
Wolfsburg is hoping to return to the level of play that earned them the 2009 Bundesliga championship. This season saw them finish a disappointing eighth in the league and thus fail to qualify for European competition next season.
McClaren had been an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United before becoming Middlesbrough's manager in 2001. He led the team to its first League Cup win in 2004 and two years later reached the UEFA finals.
He also served as assistant to England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and took over for him after the 2006 World Cup. But McClaren found himself looking for a job in November 2007, after England failed to qualify for the 2008 European championship.
svs/AFP/SID/dpa
Editor: Chuck Penfold