Remember Steve McClaren? The wally with the brolly? The man who was torn apart by the British press after his England tenure ended in defeat? This weekend he won the Dutch Eredivisie League with FC Twente.

This is a big achievement. It’d be like winning the Premier League with Birmingham.

The vicious nature of the British media and many of the British fans made it impossible for McClaren to work in the UK after the England job.

The still all think he’s rubbish.

But look beyond the bigots and haters and you’ll find a top class coach. Highly rated by Ferguson at Manchester United he took Middlesbrough to their first silverware in and to an unprecedented UEFA Cup Final.

He took the England job because it was offered to him. Who would turn their country down? Yes it was to soon in his career and it was a poor period for him and the national side but it didn’t make him a bad manager.

He is a fantastic example to all British managers. Go and work in Europe. Stop hanging on for a job in the top flight in England. Managers like Paul Ince or Mark Hughes who fancy themselves to be top managers seem too narrow minded to do it; too much the little Englander, scared of that overseas might be a foreign country.

Look at Roy Hodgson. His career stretches back over 30 years and has taken him all across Europe and as a consequence may lead to him being the next England manager.

But going abroad would expand their horizons, allow them to develop their trade and improve their art. I’ve no doubt that McClaren is a better manager now for the experience. He’s also going to manage them in the Champions League – an experience he would never get in England. If he gets some good results, he’ll become more attractive to bigger clubs and has a chance to move up the managerial ladder in a way that the likes of Ince will never do if they stay here. Moving to Holland has just been a great career move for him and it couldn’t happen to a nicer fella. Steve’s problem with England was that he’s always been too nice, too eager to please and we saw that again by his early attempt at a comedy Dutch accent. But he’s a popular figure in the Netherlands now and after the savaging he got in the press here, it must be a blessed relief for him. He’s proven himself and his career is very much on the up again.

People will still be critical of McClaren saying the Dutch league is inferior but surely it’s better to be a champion in the Dutch league than to do a Sam Allardyce and take Blackburn to 12th or whatever. Being a winner is always more attractive than being a grafter. What would you rather look at when your career is over – a series of mid-table finishes in England or a string of league titles all across the continent? It’s no brainer – except for the brainless Englishmen who are too narrow-minded or scared to give it a try.

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UEFA held the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage today and some fascinating pairings emerged. Both Martin Jol and Steve McClaren will take their new clubs back to England as FC Twente will face Manchester City and Jol's Hamburg will take on Aston Villa.

This year's groups are looking really tough and the field contains eight former UEFA Cup winners, and six former European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League winners.

The top three teams in each group qualify for the knockout stages, to be joined by the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League groups. Here are the groupings with my picks to advance. A couple of potential upsets are on the cards. I think Ajax might not make the Round of 32 with their form being so inconsistent. They've been drawn in with some very good teams and it's going to be tight to see who goes on.

Potential for upset exists in Groups B and E as well where Olympiakos and Portsmouth might struggle. Portsmouth have had a poor start to the season and are looking shaky at the back. Olympiacos are simply in a tough group and may struggle to beat out Hertha Berlin, Benfica and Galatasaray (a team featuring ex-Liverpool attackers Harry Kewell and Milan Baros).

I've picked Rosenborg to advance as they are nearing the end of their season and should be in good form/shape and as they are not likely to win their domestic league, they will look to these games to give their season some positivity.

Group A:
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Paris St Germain (France)
Manchester City (England)
Racing Santander (Spain)
FC Twente (Netherlands)

Group B:
Benfica (Portugal)
Hertha Berlin (Germany)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Olympiacos (Greece)
Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine)

Group C:
Sevilla (Spain)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Sampdoria (Italy)
Standard Liège (Belgium)
Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)

Group D:
Spartak Moscow (Russia)
Udinese (Italy)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Tottenham Hotspur (England)
NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands)

Group E:
AC Milan (Italy)
SC Braga (Portugal)
Wolfsburg (Germany)
Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Portsmouth (England)

Group F:
Hamburg (Germany)
Aston Villa (England)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Ajax (Netherlands)
MSK Zilina (Slovakia)

Group G:
Valencia (Spain)
FC Copenhagen (Denmark)
Rosenborg (Norway)
Club Brugge (Belgium)
St Etienne (France)

Group H:
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Deportivo La Coruna (Spain)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
AS Nancy (France)
Lech Poznan (Poland)

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Although the Champions League Second Qualifying Round is still underway, the draw for the Third Round took place today and it has presented us with some very interesting matchups. The marquee matchup has to be FC Schalke 04 against Club Atletico de Madrid but the Arsenal - FC Twente fixture will garner much attention from the UK-based media. The Arsenal - FC Twente fixture will see former England manager Steve McClaren coaching in England for the first time since he was sacked from his national team duties. It'll be interesting to see what sort of reception he receives in London.

Taking a look at the other highlight matchup, Schalke reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season but face a massive challenge in the re-tooled Atletico. Atletico will be seeking a return to the full competition for the first time since reaching the last eight in 1996-97.

Schalke general manager Andreas Müller was quoted by uefa.com as saying "This is the kind of fixture you would see in the last 16 or the quarter-finals." I agree with that sentiment. These are two talented clubs and it will be a major disappointment to see one of these clubs eliminated so early on. However, that's the nature of the competition and is just another reason why, in my estimation, the Champions League has become _the_ top competition in the soccer world.

The full listing of fixtures is posted below. I am going to wait until the second round is over before making predictions. Once the third round fixtures are clear, I will post an update along with my predictions on who will advance to the Group Stage.

2008/09 UEFA Champions League
Third Qualifying Round Fixtures
First leg: 12/13 August
Second leg: 26/27 August

Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Aalborg/Modrica v Rangers/Kaunas
Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Standard Liege v Liverpool
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Hungaria
Twente Enschede v Arsenal
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Juventus v Tampere/Artmedia
Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Panathinaikos/Dinamo Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Prague

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As was discussed here earlier, former England manager Steve McClaren was announced as the new manager of Dutch side FC Twente on Friday. McClaren, who had been out of work since November when he was sacked after England failed to qualify for Euro 2008, has agreed a two-year deal at the Eredivisie club.

McClaren takes over from Fred Rutten, who joined Bundesliga side Schalke in April after guiding Twente to a place in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League last season. Twente beat out more experienced Dutch sides Ajax and Feyenoord to the second Champions League qualification place. The Enschede-based club finished fourth in the league, but beat Ajax in a play-off to claim a spot in the third qualifying round of the 2008-09 Champions League.

McClaren had been linked with the vacant post at Blackburn in the wake of Mark Hughes' move to Manchester City, but after several weeks of talks with the Twente president Joop Munsterman and a chat with legendary English manager Sir Bobby Robson, he decided to relaunch his career in Holland. Robson had two spells in Holland in charge of PSV Eindhoven in the early and the late 1990s. His first spell was after the 1990 World Cup when he left the England job. He went on to win the Eredivise title in 1991 and 1992.

McClaren told reporters: "Sir Bobby Robson told me that this would be a nice challenge for me. He also told me that FC Twente is a fantastic club and that I would feel at home. "
McClaren will need to get to work straight away and have a chat with star midfielder Orlando Engelaar, who was part of the Dutch squad at Euro 2008, as he has been linked in the German press with a move to join Rutten at Schalke. He will also need to win over the fans according to the UK-based newspaper The Mirror.

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