McClaren survives despite Wolfsburg's cup shock

Steve McClaren has been given a vote of confidence by Wolfsburg and will still be their coach after the winter break next month despite their poor start to the season. Speculation mounted on Wednesday that McClaren was about to be sacked after Wolfsburg, languishing in 13th in the Bundesliga, were knocked out of the German Cup by second division Energie Cottbus.

However, after crisis talks yesterday, Wolfsburg's managing director, Dieter Hoeness, announced that McClaren's position was safe for now, though there would be some major changes in the squad . "We have got some cleaning up to do," Hoeness said. "We expect the coaches to act consequentially and to punish bad behaviour both on and off the field."