Steve McClaren promised funds to revive Nottingham Forest

Forest wasted little time in appointing former England coach McClaren, 50, as their new manager yesterday morning and believe they have at last appointed the right man to lift them back into the top flight.

McClaren has signed a three-year contract at the City Ground and takes over from Billy Davies, who was sacked on Sunday following two successive npower Championship play-off semi-final defeats.

Davies often cited financial restrictions as one of the the main reasons why Forest have become the 'nearly men' in recent seasons, but Forest chief executive Mark Arthur insisted money had always been available for his former manager.

Arthur said: "Money has been available in the past. Nigel Doughty has put 25million into the club in the last two seasons, so I think it's a bit of a fallacy to suggest that no money has been made available.

"Steve will have similar funds available to him if he can identify a player of the quality who will enhance the quality of the current squad."

McClaren, sacked in disgrace by England in 2008 and recently linked with the vacancy at Aston Villa, returns to club management in this country after reviving his career in the Netherlands and then spending an ill-fated spell in Germany with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.

Forest, relegated from the top flight in 1999, have been unable to claw their way back and languished for three seasons in League One from 2005 to 2008, but Arthur pointed to McClaren's track record in club management as the reason for his appointment.

Arthur said: "Steve has a proven track record of coaching and managing at club level, having played a key role in helping Manchester United secure the Champions League trophy (in 1999], three Premier League titles and an FA Cup; guided Middlesbrough to the League Cup and also to the final of the Uefa Cup and led FC Twente to their first-ever Dutch title."

Yorkshire-born McClaren, who was named Dutch manager of the season in his first full term in charge, left Twente in May last year to take charge of German side Wolfsburg and from then on the fairytale withered and died - he was sacked nine months later due to poor results.