I do like you Steve, but…….

28Mar07

So another fairly dismal performance from England tonight, McClaren still in line for the sack. But does it really change anything?

In short, no. It was virtually unthinkable that we would fail to beat the Andorrans and McClaren was never likely to lose his job following a win. However I have to admit to feeling strangely sorry for the man. McClaren is without doubt a very promising, very talented coach, however he simply isn’t of the standard required to manage one of the most talented footballing sides on earth and should never have been given the job in the first place.

Everyone knows that the most important individual in any football team is the manager and I refuse to buy into this whole idea that a bad performance can be the players’ responsibility. At the end of the day the manager is paid to pick the team. Sure, the players can let the manager down, but the buck still stops with the man at the top. As a result of this, for all the wealth of talent in the England squad, without a manager to match, everything is lost.

Given that the England team is clearly in the top bracket of international sides, it makes sense that we appoint a manager to match our status. Admittedly this is easier said than done, however in my opinion Sven Goran Eriksson was clearly of this quality, and once the FA had decided that they wanted to sack him they should have made absolutely sure that they had first found a suitable replacement.

McClaren’s appointment was clearly a fudge. Secretly the FA knew that he wasn’t up to the job, but ran out of options and attempted to appease the press by appointing the most highly qualified Englishman available. So I feel sorry for Steve. How can the FA sack a man after only a handful of games? The answer; they can’t, and given the lack of avaliable top class coaches would they want to? England will limp on until enough time has passed and then McClaren will get the chop. All we can hope is that by the next time the FA are looking for a new manager they will be a little more prepared.

In the mean time we just have to remember not to take our national side too seriously. After all, isn’t club football so much better anyway?

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