DERBY, England (AP) - Former England coach Steve McClaren is back as manager of Derby County, 17 months after being fired by the club for failing to secure a return to the English Premier League.
Derby announced the appointment on Wednesday, with McClaren saying he was “delighted at the prospect of finishing what we started.”
After leaving Derby, McClaren was hired by Premier League club Newcastle but lasted just nine months before being sacked.
McClaren, who coached England from 2006-07, took charge of Derby for the first time in September 2013 and led the team to the League Championship playoff final that season, where it lost to Queens Park Rangers. The following season, Derby was top of the second tier with two months remaining but a poor run of form saw the team finish eighth and miss out on the playoffs.
The 55-year-old McClaren said “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.”
Derby was last in the Premier League in 2008.
McClaren has signed a deal until 2018 as the replacement for Nigel Pearson, who left last week following a suspension and a club investigation into his conduct.
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