Steve McClaren on his bond with Rotherham United chairman Tony Stewart

The 65-year-old has just been appointed head of football, a new role created by the club as they restructure their footballing set-up in the wake of relegation to League Two.

He and chairman Stewart first encountered each other 10 years ago when he was interested in becoming manager at AESSEAL New York Stadium and have stayed in touch ever since.

McClaren's admiration for Rotherham's long-serving figurehead meant that his interest was piqued when Stewart said he wanted him to take control of the bid to stop the rot and get the Millers moving forward again.

“I'm a Yorkshireman,” he said. “Tony's a Yorkshireman. We're hard-working - we were brought up like that. We're honest and we are resilient.

“You've seen the way that he's built this club. He's gone all the way from League Two to the Championship. He's stayed there, come back down, gone back up, come back down, gone back up. Resilience is part of football. For him to survive 18 years and still have the enthusiasm that he's got, I thought: ‘That's great.’

McClaren has immediately set his sights on promotion next term and will draw on his illustrious past to help make it happen.

As well as being in charge of the English national side and also Jamaica, he has been number two at Manchester United, manager of the likes of Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Derby County and Queens Park Rangers and the holder of an ‘upstairs’ position with Derby.

“I can put all my experience into it - many years of football success, football failure,” he said. “I know what can win, I know what can lose. I know what good culture is, what bad culture is, what good people look like and what bad people look like.

“I'd been talking to people previously about advising and mentoring and things like that, but this seemed perfect for me.”

McClaren was convalescing from surgery when Rotherham initially made their move for him in February. Messages were exchanged between him and Stewart up until the close of the campaign and then talks began in earnest.

“I'd come back from Jamaica and had an ankle operation,” he said. “I was sitting in a protective boot and I get a call from Tony.

“Tony was wanting some ideas on changing the manager. At that time, I couldn't do anything - I was in the boot, But I said: ‘Once I'm out of the boot, we'll get together.’

“I made a few little comments via text and then he invited me to a game (at home to Barnsley, April 11). We had a good chat. We talked about football, we talked about the match, we talked about Rotherham, we talked about everything, really.

“We got on really well, as we did 10 years ago when Rotherham were in the Championship and we were talking about me coming here then.”

The pair met in person again following May 2's final day and the appointment was confirmed on May 20. A deal had been pretty much in place around a week before that date.

McClaren said: “Tony told me: ‘I think we need someone in the club who can bridge the gap between ownership and what's happening on the training ground and out there on a Saturday.’

“He said: ‘Are you interested?’ And I said: ‘Yeah, I'm interested in listening.’ It's something that, at this stage of my career, was thinking about anyway.

“I was thinking about buying a football club, but the wife wouldn't let me do that! Tony said: ‘Well, come and run the football side of this club.’”