The former England boss is inheriting a side which defeated Ajax in the Champions League play-off last season, but the departure of influential midfielder Orlando Engelaar may harm their chances of silverware.

The Holland international has moved to Hamburg but McClaren will be hoping the arrival of midfield duo Ismael Cheikh Tiote and Theo Janssen can help the Enschede outfit improve on last season's performance.

"Looking back to last season is useless. That was the first thing I made clear to the squad. You cannot live on the success you had before," he said.

"We want to go on down the line that brought success before and that is what we are working on now."

Top-scorer Blaise Kufo remains Twente's greatest asset. The veteran Switzerland international fired 22 goals last term and McClaren must keep him fit in order to become serious title contenders.

The top Eredivisie teams have also had a managerial reshuffle with Huub Stevens taking over at reigning champions PSV and former national team coach Marco van Basten moving to Ajax.

The Oranje legend worked wonders during Euro 2008, where Holland reached the last eight playing an impressive brand of football, and similar success at the Amsterdam ArenA would further boost his reputation.

Van Basten has released a large number of his inherited squad and immediately brought in a blend of youth and experience, including Ismail Aissati, Oleguer Presas and Dario Cvitanich.

The purchase of Serbia international Miralem Sulejmani for a Dutch record 16 million euros has grabbed the headlines, but keeping hold of captain and top marksman Klass-Jan Huntelaar could hold the key to success.

Stevens, meanwhile, faces the difficult task of maintaining domestic superiority at PSV while improving on last season's Champions League showing in which they failed to get beyond the group stage.

PSV have lost Jefferson Farfan and goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, but have recruited heavily in a bid to retain their league crown.

The Eindhoven side have bought Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson, Reimond Mancoa, Nordin Amrabat and Jeremie Brechet in an attempt to keep up with their rivals.

The last side to break the Ajax and PSV stranglehold on the championship was Feyenoord in 1999, but new coach Gertjan Verbeek will find it difficult to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that achievement with anything more than a European spot.

This season will see an overhaul of the play-off system used to determine European qualification. The new system guarantees Champions League football for the top two, with the third and fourth placed clubs automatically reaching the UEFA Cup.

The teams placed fifth to eighth will contend a play-off series to determine the final UEFA Cup spot.

The move will encourage top-six contenders Heerenveen, NAC Breda, FC Groningen, AZ Alkmaar and NEC Nijmegen to be more consistent to avoid the play-off lottery.

Away from the likely challengers for a top-six spot, newly-promoted ADO Den Haag have invested heavily to avoid making an instant return to the Jupiler League, but they face an uphill struggle in the top-flight.

ADO bounced straight back after being relegated in 2006/07, but will still find it tough despite a number of promising signings including striker Fabio Caracciolo and defender Ahmed Ammi.

They will take heart from De Graafschap, who avoided an immediate return to the second tier last season with a 3-1 victory over FC Zwolle in the relegation play-off last season.

However, a lack of activity in the transfer market this term could see the Superboeren battling the drop.

Roda JC will be aiming to emulate last season's finish in the top half of the table while FC Utrecht and Vitesse Arnhem have also set their sights on a place in the top nine.

Despite winning the Jupiler League last season, FC Volendam may need a small miracle to avoid another quick return to the second tier of Dutch football while Heracles Almelo, Sparta Rotterdam and Willem II will be hoping to avoid the struggles they endured in the top flight last season.