Steve McClaren: 'I was too young to handle England pressure'

Steve McClaren has conceded that he was too young to cope with the pressure of managing England.

McClaren was named as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor in 2006 after the Three Lions crashed out in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but he struggled immensely in his year in charge as his side failed to qualify for Euro 2008.

He suffered huge criticism from the press and the public for the failure, leading to his sacking, and McClaren now believes that he was too young at the age of 45 to deal with the expectations. However, he is hopeful that the experience will stand him in good stead at Newcastle United.

He told reporters: "The England job didn't kill me - well, it nearly did! So it must have made me stronger. I think moving abroad, different leagues, not so much hardened me, but I think you just mature. Maybe I was too young at the time for England, and on reflection I definitely hold my hands up to that.

"England is very difficult to describe. Stood on the sidelines, 90,000 people, a nation watching on TV, a nation on your shoulders, a nation of expectation. I think it was described at the time as there is nothing greater pressure wise than that England job, or a national manager's job.

"Putting it into perspective, that was a whole nation, now we are talking about a region. But this region is one of the biggest. Newcastle, 50,000 people, absolute fanatics, it is like a religion. It is huge, and a massive pressure. But I think all football is. The two jobs have totally different pressures. England was, yeah, it was quite big!"

Newcastle open their Premier League campaign against Southampton on Sunday.