Steve McClaren returns as Derby County boss with Chris Powell named assistant

Posted Thursday, October 13, 2016 by Skysports.com

Steve McClaren returns as Derby County boss with Chris Powell named assistant
Steve McClaren is back in football management after seven months out

Steve McClaren has been appointed as Derby County's new manager, 17 months after being sacked by the club.

Nigel Pearson departed as the boss by mutual consent last weekend after less than five months in charge.

Sky sources reported the 55-year-old McClaren was having positive discussions on Wednesday morning and in the afternoon the return of the former England boss was confirmed.

Chris Powell, who has been in temporary charge and played for McClaren when he was assistant to Jim Smith at Derby in the mid-1990s, has been named as assistant manager.

The first test on the pitch for the new management team will be welcoming Leeds United on October 15. The first time McClaren's team will be seen live on Sky Sports will be their visit to Wolves on November 5.

"I am excited to be back at Derby County as the club's manager," McClaren told the club's official website.

"I have a great affiliation with the club, having been here on three previous occasions, and I am really delighted at the prospect of finishing what we started back in September 2013.

"I regret how my time at Derby ended back in 2015 and I am very motivated to put things right for the club and our supporters.

"My ultimate aspiration remains exactly what it was before, to take Derby County back to the Premier League.

"This football club has fantastic ambition, brilliant supporters and wonderful backing from the Chairman Mel Morris. I am looking forward to working alongside Mel, as well as Sam Rush who initially brought me back here in 2013. Sam and I worked very well together previously and I am certain we can pick up where we left off.

"For me, it was vitally important that Chris Powell and the existing team remained on the coaching staff. When I was assistant to Jim Smith in the 1990s, Chris was part of the squad and a key player for us.

"He had a fine playing career, being capped by England as well as enjoying many years in the Premier League, so to have someone as talented as him as my assistant is really important."

Derby have had a miserable start to the Championship season and are currently in 20th spot, having picked up just 10 points from 11 games including two wins.

"We are delighted that Steve McClaren has agreed to re-join us as our manager," Derby president and chief executive Sam Rush added.

Steve McClaren returns as Derby County boss with Chris Powell named assistant
McClaren will link up with Chris Powell at Derby

"We enjoyed some fantastic and memorable moments under Steve during his previous tenure in charge.

"Steve's arrival and subsequent work helped transform how we played our football. Steve's time at Derby came to a premature end and I know he regrets that greatly. He values hugely his relationship with our supporters and I know that he will work very hard to ensure that the special connection returns.

"When we sat down as a board to begin the process of appointing a new manager it was apparent, as the architect of our style of football, that Steve was a prime candidate. Mel Morris, our Chairman, is clear about the plan for Derby County and we strongly believe that with Chris Powell, alongside Steve, we can ensure a successful future ahead."

McClaren was dismissed at the iPro Stadium in May last year after the club failed to reach the Championship play-offs, despite spending most of the season in the top six.

His return may not sit too comfortably with some Derby fans who still blame McClaren for the team's late failure to win promotion, saying his refusal to rule out a move to Newcastle United was a distraction.

McClaren went on to become Newcastle's head coach, three weeks after leaving Derby. His reign at the Magpies lasted less than a year and he was sacked in March, 2016.

McClaren spent much of his playing career at Derby, and after a brief coaching spell at Oxford United he returned to work under Jim Smith in 1995. He then worked with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United while assisting England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson.

His first managerial job was at Middlesbrough, winning the League Cup and got them to the Europa League final.

He then moved to the Netherlands and won the Eredivisie with FC Twente, but ill-fated spells with Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest and Twente again followed, before he took the Derby job in September 2013.