Steve McClaren has talked passionately - if he is ever capable of such a thing - about surviving adversity, a couple of England players have mumbled something about not blaming the manager, but if England don’t qualify for the European Championships in 2008 there is no way McClaren can hold on to his job.
It is all well and good talking about stability and the fact nobody can wave a magic wand to instantly bring success to an under-achieving club like Newcastle United, but for pity’s (I’d like to swear here but this is a family show), England didn’t need to have a magic wand waved for them to qualify for Euro 2008 did they?
This is a team which had reached the quarter-finals in three successive major tournaments, qualification really shouldn’t have been too much trouble. All we needed was someone to select 11 players, prepare them and organise them into a team capable of doing the job. McClaren has failed to do that so he has to go.
I didn’t hear anyone talking about saving Graham Taylor when he failed to qualify for the World Cup in 1994. Failure to reach a major tournament is not good enough, plain and simple.
With the players we have and the money generated by our national sport, qualification has to be the minimum requirement for the national coach. It’s a high-pressure job but if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen and send your CV to Derby County, they’ll be looking for a new manager soon. God forbid, so might Newcastle! Imagine that, Stevie Mc in a Newcastle tracksuit!
Sorry to ruin your weekend guys and girls, I’m sure that’s not going to happen, but my point is, whether he likes it or not, there has to be a scapegoat if England fail to qualify and that has to be McClaren. The Football Association’s Brian Barwick should probably fall on his sword as well as he appointed him, but that can wait for another day.
Mind you, I’m not saying the players should be absolved of blame. They have under-performed and flattered to deceive for far too long, it’s just you can’t sack all of them can you?! Steven Gerrard is right, they should be embarrassed by the way they have played, they have let the manager down and they have let the country down, but players always survive don’t they! And earn millions in the process.
There has been a lot of talk this week about there being too many foreign players in the PL. That might be right, but my attitude has always been, it’s up to the English players to prove they are capable of competing with the best players from around the world.
If they are good enough they will still play for the top teams, there should certainly be enough for an England manager - he only needs a pool of around 30 or 40 - to select a squad which, because they play against the best for their clubs week in, week out, can challenge the best on the international stage as well.
In the 70s and early 80s there were hardly any foreign players in English football, but the national team was crap. In the 90s, the reason we couldn’t compete at international level was, supposedly, because English clubs had been excluded from European competition in the late 80s and weren’t able to adapt to beating continental opposition. That isn’t a problem today is it so we blame the fact there are too many foreigners!
When England do badly, there are always excuses offered, so for once, let’s just blame the manager and the players for making a complete mess of this qualification campaign.
Then again, don’t rule out England’s chances just yet. As Middlesbrough fans will testify, McClaren has always been a lucky manager so don’t be too surprised if Israel take something from their game against Russia and England still qualify by beating Croatia next week!
In fact, as I’m on a roll with my predictions, this is what will happen so lay off Steve. God, you lot are so judgemental!
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