Now the ‘Wally’ can finally walk tall at Wembley
FORMER England manager Steve McClaren left Wembley a beaten man again last night — but this time with his head held high and rightly bemoaning the ‘cruelty’ of football.
McClaren lost his job on his last visit to the national stadium after a 3-2 defeat by Croatia cost England a place at Euro 2008. He was vilified as the ‘Wally with a brolly’ after he tried to protect himself from driving rain.
This time, there was honour in defeat as his young Derby side had dominated the game, only to lose to a late sucker punch.
McClaren said: ‘I am so proud of my players. We played a midfield with an average age of 20 but dominated and controlled the game.
‘We will be disappointed but we know we have to get over this, use the hurt and make sure next season we continue.
‘Sometimes when you are growing, you have to take hits, and this is a big hit.’
McClaren, who started the season as QPR’s defensive coach before taking the Derby job in September, kept his players on the pitch to applaud Harry Redknapp’s side at the end.
‘You want to go down the tunnel when you get a kick like that, but we played the right way and, win or lose, we also wanted to react in the right way.
‘I shook hands with Harry afterwards but I can’t remember what was said — I was in shock. I’m sure we will talk after.
‘Queens Park Rangers were ready for the Premier League. It was not our time and it was difficult to take.’
McClaren will spend the summer urging the Derby board to keep young stars like Will Hughes — valued at £15million — so the club can have another tilt at promotion next season.
Captain Richard Keogh was in tears at the end after his blunder had gifted Bobby Zamora the winning goal.
But McClaren said: ‘We won’t put the blame on anyone. For any goal, there is always more than one reason.
‘We’ll wallow in our misery for a few days now.’
But McClaren, who took over with Derby 14th, has done enough to restore his battered reputation.