Nottingham Forest McParland eventually went to
Nottingham Forest as a coach. He was with Forest for over 10 years and was the reserve team coach for most of that time. When
Gary Megson left the club in February 2006, he was put in temporary charge with
Frank Barlow in a joint first team management role. He and Barlow were named Managers of the Month for March 2006, when they went 10 games unbeaten, with 6 straight wins, including a 7–1 victory over
Swindon Town at the City Ground. McParland just missed out on equalling a club record of 7 straight wins when Forest fell to a 3–2 defeat at the hands of
Hartlepool United. Despite Forest narrowly missing out on the
League One playoffs, McParland was still the favourite to land the Forest job (with Barlow) on a permanent basis. After Colin Calderwood was named the permanent successor to Megson, McParland and Barlow became coaches for the Forest first team.
Notts County He was announced as the new Notts County manager in October 2007. McParland enjoyed a two-year spell in charge and, despite the appointment of
Sven-Göran Eriksson as Director of Football, the club decided to retain his services. McParland was sacked on 12 October 2009, however, with the club in fifth place in League Two.
Ipswich Town He joined
Ipswich as part of
Roy Keane's coaching staff on 27 November 2009. On 7 January 2011 he took over as caretaker manager for the departed Keane, and in his first game suffered a 7–0 defeat to
Premier League side
Chelsea. His second and final game in charge was the home leg of the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal on 12 January 2011, which Ipswich won 1–0. He was replaced permanently by
Paul Jewell on 13 January 2011.
Swindon Town McParland joined
Swindon Town on 3 March 2011 as assistant to
Paul Hart who had taken over the manager's role. He left the club in April 2011 following relegation to League Two.
Return to Forest On 28 February 2013, McParland was appointed the under-21 coach at former club Nottingham Forest, returning to the club after an absence of over five years. He was relieved of his position after
Billy Davies was fired from Nottingham Forest. In August 2014 he was contacted by Norwegian club
Sogndal to become assistant manager under former Leeds player
Eirik Bakke. McParland assumed the position ahead of the
2015 1. divisjon campaign, but missed his family, resigned after only three months and returned to England. == Managerial statistics ==