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| Steve McClaren became known as 'the wally with the brolley' after losing to Bilic's Croatia in 2007 |
EVERY cloud - even the Wembley ones that emptied their contents over Steve McClaren's infamous umbrella nearly eight years ago - has a silver lining.
Trust Slaven Bilic, the former England manager's nemesis that day and now the West Ham manager, to find it.
"You killed him for the brolly of course!" he recalled. "But on the flip side, I got really wet!"
"You" is the English media, a few representatives of which met with Bilic last December when he was still the manager at Besiktas. The prospect of Monday's rematch with McClaren seemed a distant one.
Then again, the pair have continued to bump into each other in unexpected places.
When McClaren joined the staff of QPR in July 2013, Bilic's Besiktas were their first pre-season opponents, for example.
However, their most significant meeting came three years after Croatia's 3-2 win over England ended hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 - an afternoon spent talking football that left both men with a mutual regard.
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| Slaven Bilic has seen West Ham secure two away wins from two games this season |
"I respect him big time," said Bilic. "He was at Wolfsburg when I was still Croatia coach and Mario Mandzukic was there.
"I went once and had long chat with him. I felt really sorry for him. You need to treat the guy with respect. Steve did really well in his career, he knows football, is very polite.
"That game between us was one of the most famous in Croatian history, too. I remember we were 2-0 up without really deserving it. It should have been 0-0, or England 1-0. But we scored that second goal and then it was really hard to play us.
"In the end, the umbrella thing didn't help him, of course. But if it hadn't been that then it would have been something else."
The FA-issue red-and-blue canopy seemed to exacerbate rather than hide McClaren's shame - a cataclysmic event in a burgeoning career that Bilic had followed surprisingly closely, thanks to Croatian pals Igor Stimac and Aljosa Asanovic who worked with McClaren as first team coach in the mid-1990s before he was hand-picked to become the assistant at Manchester United.
"I knew him from Derby," said Bilic. "The manager Jim Smith and other people told me even then what a good coach he was. And Sir Alex Ferguson doesn't take a bad coach."
McClaren's performance when he moved into the hot seat at Middlesbrough - winning the League Cup and reaching the UEFA Cup final - earned him the England job. His CV after that Croatia defeat is more indicative of McClaren's unending resilience.
All-but-exiled from his native country by public perception, McClaren set about rebuilding his reputation with FC Twente in Holland before a less auspicious venture into the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg.
A miserable run of eight points from 10 games on his return to England with Nottingham Forest cast McClaren back away to Twente.
Unable to replicate his success, he took a step back from the front line to serve under Harry Redknapp at QPR before doing enough as Derby manager to persuade Newcastle owner Mike Ashley to hand him the poisoned chalice at St James' Park.
And as for Bilic? He finally said farewell to Croatia after a positive Euro 2012 finals and, after a poor spell at Lokomotiv Moscow, he won plenty of friends at Besiktas, but ultimately not enough games - twice missing out on Champions League football.
West Ham snapped up their former player in the summer but thrilling early away wins at Arsenal and Liverpool have been counterbalanced by home defeats by Leicester and Bournemouth. Consequently, the pressure is on for a performance at Upton Park.
McClaren's Newcastle, meanwhile, may have earned a creditable draw at Manchester United but they are still without a much-needed win this season.
The weatherman says that it will be fine and pleasant for their rematch on Monday evening. He doesn't say for whom, though.
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