Former Queens Park Rangers boss Steve McClaren is closing in on a return to the English game, with Rotherham United expected to appoint the experienced coach in a senior football operations role.
The Millers are understood to be in advanced discussions with the former England manager, who is expected to take up a director of football-style position at the New York Stadium as the club looks to rebuild following relegation to League Two. McClaren’s arrival would mark a significant statement of intent from chairman Tony Stewart after a difficult few seasons on and off the pitch.
Rotherham are believed to want a more modern structure behind the scenes, with McClaren likely to oversee recruitment, football operations and the appointment of a new head coach. Matt Hamshaw was dismissed in March, while Lee Clark’s short-term spell in charge was not extended despite indications he would have welcomed the opportunity to remain.
The club have endured two relegations in three seasons and will start the 2026-27 campaign in the fourth tier for the first time since 2013. Criticism of training facilities and the wider football structure has surfaced in recent years, even though Stewart has invested heavily in improvements at Roundwood.
The appointment would bring a manager with extensive experience at the top level of the English game, as well as a coach who has enjoyed success abroad.
A Career Of Highs, Lows And Reinvention
McClaren’s managerial career has always carried an unusual contrast. For some supporters, he remains the England manager dubbed ‘Wally with the brolly’ on that infamous Wembley night against Croatia. For others, he is still the coach who guided Middlesbrough to a first major trophy and took FC Twente to a historic Dutch title.
His journey has rarely been straightforward. After a modest playing career that included spells with Hull City, Derby County, Lincoln City, Bristol City and Oxford United, McClaren quickly developed a reputation as one of English football’s sharpest coaching minds. His rise under Jim Smith at Derby County eventually led him to Manchester United, where he became Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant during one of the club’s most dominant periods.
That reputation earned him the Middlesbrough job in 2001, and he transformed the Teesside club into regular challengers for European qualification. League Cup success in 2004 and a run to the UEFA Cup final two years later established him as one of the leading English managers of the era.
The England job followed, although it became the defining setback of his career after failure to qualify for Euro 2008. Lesser figures may never have recovered, but McClaren rebuilt his reputation impressively in the Netherlands, guiding Twente to the Eredivisie title in 2010 against the financial power of Ajax and PSV.
Since then, his career has been a mixture of short-lived appointments and rebuilding projects, taking in Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers. Even so, within the game, he has continued to command enormous respect for his tactical knowledge and coaching expertise, which is why clubs still turn to him when a major change is required.
