Former Manchester United assistant manager Mike Phelan has opened up on Cristiano Ronaldo's difficult second spell at the club.
18.05.2024 - 10:25 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Steve McClaren has revealed he didn’t sleep a wink for six months during Manchester United’s Treble-winning season.
United etched their name into English football history in 1999 by becoming the first club to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season. The incredible feat was completed in dramatic style with two injury-time goals against Bayern Munich at Barcelona's Nou Camp.
McClaren joined the Red Devils midway through the season, replacing Brian Kidd as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant manager. The new role proved immensely challenging for the former Derby County coach, where he had been Jim Smith's number two.
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The 63-year-old has now shed light on his early days at United in the new Prime Video documentary series '99', which covers the legendary 1998/99 campaign. McClaren admitted via the Mirror: "Every day they tested each other and every day they tested me. I swear, I never slept a wink for six months."
Still, McClaren quickly took to the camaraderie within the team, adding: "My best days were Sunday mornings at the Cliff [United's training ground]. We'd get the bacon butties on, big pot of tea, get the newspapers on the table.
"Everyone would be in the dressing room, the gaffer included, and we'd just be chewing the fat, reading the papers. [Pretends to pick up a paper] 'Yorkey, [you've] made the front page again!’ That bubble, it's only us, it's only family, us against the world."
McClaren left Old Trafford to become Middlesbrough manager in 2001, only to return in 2022 as part of Erik ten Hag's coaching staff. There
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