Newcastle Manager's First Interviews - Did They Deliver On Their Promises?
McClaren said all the right things, but how did his predecessors fair in their first interviews...
I moved into this area 15 years ago and became manager of Middlesbrough - and then I realised how big a club Newcastle was. I always wanted to have this job - always. Ive had two or three opportunities, as far back as 2004 when I was at Middlesbrough, meeting Freddy Shepherd. But everything is about timing in football and it wasnt the right time in 2004. Then I was at Twente, they got relegated, there was an interest, but unfortunately I was at FC Twente and Id only been there for a year. So again, timing, and loyalty to FC Twente to stay on. And then obviously the well-documented (offer) of January just gone, where again, the timing wasnt right. I had a job to do at Derby. We were on course doing that. Id only been there just over a year and I felt that the timing wasnt right: we were top of the league, going to achieve what we wanted to achieve getting into the Premier League and the job...I wanted to finish it. It wasnt a case of turning Newcastle down at all. It was a case of staying loyal to Derby and thats what I wanted to do. The objective is top eight, to win a trophy.It goes without saying that only time will tell if McClaren's comments are accurate ones. But if former United managers are to go by, then there is more than a slight chance that everything McClaren said yesterday was a pack of lies...