Steve Mc Claren - Managerial Career - Return To Twente

Return To Twente

On 5 January 2012, FC Twente confirmed that McClaren has been appointed as the club's manager for the second time. In the press conference after being unveiled as manager, McClaren claimed his return to FC Twente was 'an easy decision' to make and wanted to set his sights on winning the Eredivisie title.

McClaren made his first match back as manager for the second time when FC Twente hammered Waalwijk 5–0. His return was welcomed by the club's supporters, who wore 'Welcome Back Steve' T-shirts during Saturday's game In the January transfer window, McClaren caused controversy when he sold one of their best strikers Marc Janko to Porto for worth about £5 million. Despite this, McClaren invested money to sign Wesley Verhoek from ADO Den Haag for £1.5 million (a player McClaren had previously tried to sign while in charge at Nottingham Forest but the proposed deal fell through) and Glynor Plet from Heracles Almelo for £1.5 million. McClaren also signed Joshua John and Daniel Fernandes on a free transfer.

After a disappointing 6th place, Twente invested in new players including Dušan Tadić and Luc Castaignos. Twente reached to make it through the group stages of the UEFA Europa League, while winning the first six league matches. McClaren became the second foreign trainer in the Eredivisie who has coached more than 100 matches.

After some poor results, McClaren was criticised for Twente's unattractive and defensive football. The club continued to express their confidence in McClaren, but after the loss against Heerenveen, criticism grew, and protest and demonstration from both supporters and the media made McClaren's position as head coach untenable. In the aftermath of that criticism McClaren resigned his position on 26th February claiming: "We agree the Club is bigger than any one individual and Twente is too big in my heart to stand in the way of its progress".