When Steve McClaren climbs the steps at the back of the Milburn Stand and walks into the main reception at St James’ Park on Saturday, Derby County’s manager will almost certainly have a strange sense of deja vu.
Almost 11 months after his sacking from the same position at Newcastle United, McClaren is likely to detect strangely familiar tensions and disturbing political undercurrents swirling in the Tyneside air.
This time last year the former England coach had been allowed to sign Andros Townsend and Jonjo Shelvey for a collective £24m but his prescient warnings that, without further strengthening in defence and attack, a desperately unbalanced team would be in real peril of relegation, fell on deaf ears.
Fast forward to the present and his successor, Rafael Benítez, has seen his own, oft repeated, concerns that January investment was required to guarantee automatic promotion go unheeded. Like McClaren before him, Benítez has no direct contact with Mike Ashley, the club’s owner, instead communicating through Lee Charnley, the managing director.
Upset at Ashley’s failure to enable him to bring Townsend back to Newcastle from Crystal Palace, the Spaniard has made it clear that, while he has no intention of walking out now, he could well quit in the summer. Much hinges on whether he regains control of player recruitment.
“The experience with this club has been sometimes quite complicated for the fans,” said Benítez, who body-swerved questions about whether he could leave in May, instead maintaining his focus was restricted solely to securing a return to the Premier League. “This club has made mistakes in the past and we cannot afford to make the same mistakes again. We have to realise that, if we want to be stronger, we have to be together.
“We were expecting something to happen [in the transfer market] and it didn’t happen but I will not quit [now], I will not leave because I’m happy or I’m not not happy. I’m ready to fight and try to get three points against Derby and to be promoted at the end of the season.”
The sense of history repeating itself became even more acute when McClaren’s successor subsequently talked about Cheik Tioté being on the lunchtime Emirates flight from Newcastle airport en route to China before a potential transfer. Twelve months ago, McClaren had spoken in extremely similar terms about the midfielder embarking on precisely the same journey and, like Benítez, gave the impression he had finally offloaded an unwanted player. In reality that move – along with several subsequent potential deals – fell through as the Ivorian remained on the St James’ books.
As the months passed and Tioté continued failing to finalise assorted mooted exits, Benítez proved powerless to prevent relegation but fell deeply in love with Newcastle. By early January, though, it became evident that the owner’s trust in the manager’s judgment had, almost imperceptibly, been eroded. Ashley, apparently listening to the views of Graham Carr, the influential chief scout, reasserted control and decreed the existing squad should be strong enough to secure promotion.
Although Newcastle are currently second, one point behind the leaders Brighton and four ahead of Reading, it represents quite a gamble, particularly as recent performances have been distinctly unimpressive.
McClaren, whose Derby side look reborn since his return to the club in October, understands the syndrome. “You can be top of the league but the pressure’s always there at Newcastle,” said a man who, along with his former Sunderland striker Darren Bent, can expect an intensely hostile reception. “There’s 52,000 fanatics at every game, it’s like a religion up there, it really is. The expectation’s always there.
“Newcastle’s is a big shirt to wear and players need a certain mentality, a certain personality, to handle it. But going there is also a big test of character for us. To play in such a big stadium in front of a huge crowd is a great challenge.”
Whatever the result on Saturday, Benítez will invite him into the manager’s office for a private post-match drink – any flies on the wall should anticipate a treat.
Comments (…)
Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion