Sir Alex Ferguson blamed 'Dancing on Ice' for ex-Man Utd No.2 Steve McClaren's downfall

Steve McClaren is back at Manchester United.

The 61-year-old, whose coaching career includes being part of English football's only treble-winning team and a stint as England manager, has been employed to help the Red Devils return to glory under new boss Erik ten Hag, working his assistant alongside fellow trusted confidant Mitchell van der Gaag.

Despite his glittering CV, however, McClaren's 21-year journey back to Old Trafford hasn't been smooth sailing. Employed as Sir Alex Ferguson 's right-hand man from 1999 to 2001, the Yorkshireman left United for his first senior post and enjoyed five years at Middlesbrough.

Success on Teeside saw him appointed England manager in 2006 - having also assisted Sven-Goran Eriksson in the Three Lions setup - but he'd only last 14 months. Amid a run disappointing performances which would last until November of 2007 when England unfathomably missed out of qualifying for the European Championships, McClaren was under intense scrutiny, something which Ferguson believes was brought on by UK's TV culture at the time.

Defending his old assistant following a draw away to Israel and victory over Andorra, the legendary Red Devils boss claimed: "We have a mocking situation in this country now. You see it on all these TV shows where the panellists criticise the contestants. There's a mocking industry now and it's even generated by television programmes. Even when they skate, the panel then criticises them.

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"It's just a mocking culture we've got so when they [football supporters] see that [on television] they mock the manager, they ridicule him. It's hard to take. It's very wrong and makes it very, very