West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has revealed that he is looking forward to facing Steve McClaren for the first time since denying England the chance to gain qualification for the European Championships in 2008.
Bilic was at the Croatia helm when they beat England 3-2 at Wembley to dash the country's Euro hopes, and the Hammers manager has now insisted that he cannot wait to take on McClaren's Newcastle United in the Premier League.
"I'm looking forward to our match against Newcastle on Monday at Upton Park," Bilic wrote in his column for the Evening Standard.
"The lads are buoyant after that great win at Liverpool, we did some terrific business on transfer deadline day and we're desperate to sort out our home form after two defeats.
"I'm also looking forward to seeing Steve McClaren again. It will be the first time we've stood in opposite technical areas since that evening at Wembley back in November 2007, when we were coaches of our respective countries."
McClaren lost his job as England manager after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.
Christopher Dodd
