| Brian Mcclair |
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His first team was and the Scottish Players' Player Of The Year awards. His main spell, however, was at Manchester United, whom he joined in 1987 for a fee of £850,000, where he made 296 (and added 59 as a substitute) league appearances, 38(7) FA Cup Appearances, 44(1) in the League Cup and 17 (6) appearances in European Competitions, scoring 126 goals in all competitions. In his first season for Manchester United he scored 24 league goals, becoming the first Manchester United player to surpass 20 league goals in one season since the late George Best in 1968. He won 30 Caps for his native Scotland, and scored two goals. He also represented his country during the 1992 European Championships . His honours with Manchester United are as follows:
In the 1992 League Cup final he scored the solitary goal against Nottingham Forest, and scored another cup final goal in the 1994 FA Cup final, this time against Chelsea when Manchester United won 4-0. Brian McClair was the main striker for United during his first season, and then partnered Mark Hughes when he returned from Barcelona, but switched to midfield when Eric Cantona joined United in November 1992. When Roy Keane was signed the following summer, McClair's first team opportunities became increasingly limited. But he agreed to stay on at United as a squad player, providing reliable cover in midfield and attack and making over 40 appearances (in the first eleven or as a substitute) in 1994-95. He was still trucking along in 1997-98, after which he was given a free transfer to complete his playing days elsewhere. McClair accepted an offer to return to Motherwell, but returned to the south of the border in December 1998 to become Brian Kidd 's assistant at Blackburn Rovers . But he was unable to prevent Blackburn from slipping out of the Premiership and within a year he had been sacked. He returned to Old Trafford as a youth team coach soon afterwards. In 2001 he was appointed as Reserve Team manager, and promptly won the Reserve League in his first season as coach.In his second season, he was in charge of the Under-19 team which clinched the 2003 FA Youth Cup.Some players from that team, like David Jones, Chris Eagles and Kieran Richardson have gone on to make appearances in the first team. Kieran Richardson recently bagged two goals on his England debut, in a friendly against the United States. At the end of the 2004-05 season the first team finished trophyless, but the Reserve Teams headed by him and Assistant Manager Ricky Sbragia won an unprecedented quadruple of the Pontins' Holidays League, the FA Premier Reserve League, The Pontins' Holidays League Cup and the Premier Reserve League Playoff. Their quest for an unprecedented five trophies was thwarted when they lost to Manchester City in the Manchester Senior Cup . Following changes to the youth academy structure, McClair will take on the role as Academy Director come the 2005-06 season. |
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