The job was originally offered to Luiz Felipe Scolari, who accepted but got cold feet at the level of media intrusion he and his family would be subjected to by the English media.
One would suppose that in turning to McClaren the FA were looking for a degree of continuation – he'd been a coach under Sven-Göran Eriksson of course, who despite some rather revisionist opinions had a good spell as England manager. There was also a clamouring from some to see an Englishman appointed in the role, and McClaren to be fair ticked these boxes. A safe pair of hands rather than a dynamic appointment, one might say. There may also have been an element of panic after not getting their original choice, and a desire to be seen as making a firm, decisive decision.
I think the fact that he'd coached England under Eriksson contributed to his downfall though, rather than helping him. It's not uncommon to see assistants or coaches struggle when they take over as manager, as their relationship with the players has to change overnight and they can sometimes struggle to get the players' respect – and I think McClaren had a real problem with this. At times he seemed to be trying to be the pally coach rather than a respected manager.
I wouldn't call McClaren a poor manager per se – he's had a couple of successes over the course of his career, with unfancied clubs – but international management at that level was above him unforunately.
