Steve McClaren advises managers to take the England job despite his own humbling experience

UEFA 2008 Qualifying: Steve McClaren , England – Israel (PA)

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Former England boss Steve McClaren has urged whoever is offered the chance to manage the national team to accept the job despite the tough nature of the role.

The new manager of Nottingham Forest has admitted he will forever be scarred by his time in the top job in English football, but that he hopes his humiliating failure to qualify for Euro 2008 will not discourage any of Capello’s potential successors.

McClaren told The Daily Mirror:  “If somebody rang to ask my advice I’d say: ‘Take it. Absolutely. If you don’t, somebody will.’

“You have to put into ­perspective the England job.

“The last time we won ­anything was 1966, and then put into perspective what we’ve done since.

“It’s a tough job, and I’ve got to say Fabio is one of THE top managers in the world.

“His record proves that, but even he’s finding it tough. I’ve said all along that the ­expectations are too great and there’s too much pressure, but that is what the job is.

“I’d still say to take it because it remains a great job. It’s the top job, you work with the very best players and if you’re English, it is what you strive for.

“I wanted to play for England, I couldn’t do that, so next I tried to manage.

“If it was another young manager asking me? Well that might then depend on who that person was. Few people have left it without a black mark and if you are young it is harder to be mentally strong.

“But somebody will take it, and I hope do well. We have some good candidates now.”

Capello is due to resign after Euro 2012, and there are a number of potential successors to the Italian in what was once known as ‘The Impossible Job’.

McClaren also said he might be willing to be England manager again in the future, although he is keen to stress that his mind is on his role at Nottingham Forest.

He said: “Hindsight is a great thing, but if I’ve learned one thing it is that looking into the future is a bad thing to do – in fact it’s the worst possible.

“What I’ve learned from my many experiences is live in the now. We all have dreams, but it is about now and what I say in the next few days when we are talking about the squad at Nottingham Forest.”