"If you are the manager, you have to get the best out of the players you
have in your squad. Our doubts began after England’s performance in Israel”
- senior source at the Football Association.
What a pity “our doubts” weren’t acted on when they should have been, after
that gormless, goalless draw in Tel Aviv last March. Had the right manager
been drafted in then, England might have avoided those fatal successive
defeats by Russia and Croatia and could still be on their way to the
European Championship, instead of on the road to nowhere.
If the overdue departure of Steve McClaren comes as a relief, the identity of
those who will replace him is anything but. Brian Barwick, the FA chief
executive, got it horribly wrong last time, when his pursuit of Luiz Felipe
Scolari ended in embarrassment, and, after interviewing Martin O’Neill, Sam
Allardyce and Alan Curbishley, he turned to the man he insisted had been his
first choice all along (ha-ha), McClaren.
It was a cockup of the first order. So whom does the FA commission to nominate
England’s saviour? None other than Brian Bungle, who has also been
instructed to conduct a “full root and branch examination of the England
set-up”. A chainsaw is called for, and Barwick deserves to be among those
massacred. If he really believed that McClaren, whose Middlesbrough team
stood in the bottom half of the Premier League, was the best man last time,
who next? Gareth Southgate?
The selection process is fundamentally flawed. It has Barwick, whose expertise
is commerce (specialist subject: TV contracts) assessing football abilities
of which he has no experience or professional knowledge, then recommending
his choice to the chairman of the FA, Geoff Thompson, a former referee
turned career administrator who was once general manager of Doncaster
Rovers. Once there is agreement between Barwick and Thompson, their
recommendation is considered by a committee that includes well-meaning
amateurs such as Roger Burden, the chairman of the Gloucestershire FA,
formerly of the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society, and Barry
Bright, the retired estate agent who is chairman of the Kent FA.
The head-hunting should be done by former footballing professionals, such as
Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA’s director of coaching and development, with
input from knowledgeable players of recent vintage, such as Alan Shearer,
Tony Adams, Teddy Sheringham and David Platt. On Friday Arsène Wenger
offered his assistance (in terms of recommending others, rather than taking
the job himself, unfortunately) and why not? It is from an informed cadre of
this calibre that the suits should take advice before making their choice.
Sensible? Of course, but it will never happen. The committee men are too
clever at protecting their perks, privileges and authority. Turkeys don’t
vote for Christmas. How has it come to this? Why have England dropped out of
the world’s elite footballing nations, their standing so low that they are
not among the top seeds for today’s World Cup draw?
Reasons, real or perceived, have had a good airing these past few days, and
range from the preponderance of foreign mercenaries in the Premier League to
the shortcomings of youth development from primary school onwards and the
fatcat lifestyles and attitude of teenage millionaires more interested in
celebrity than technical improvement. These are all bona fide concerns, but
addressing them at any length is akin to banging your head against Arsenal’s
defensive wall. Import quotas aren’t going to happen, EU law will see to
that, ditto salary caps, and one only has to watch a kids’ game, with dads
bellowing, “Get stuck in” and, “Don’t dribble, you’ll lose it” to despair of
progress there.
More relevant to the urgent issue at hand, which is the revitalisation of the
senior international team, is to remind ourselves where it all went wrong
these past 18 months, to ensure that history does not repeat itself. To
those who contend that there aren’t the players out there to bring about a
resurgence, I would point out that England were quarter-finalists at each of
the past two international tournaments, faring better than Croatia (who
failed to win a game), Spain and Holland at last year’s World Cup and better
than Croatia (who again couldn’t win a match), Spain, Italy and Germany at
Euro 2004.
A lost generation? Hardly. The under21s are in good shape, and it is my belief
that it took mismanagement on a woeful scale to turn the resources available
into a bunch of losers. At the last European Championship, Sven-Göran
Eriksson’s team put four goals past Croatia and made them look second-rate.
Less than four years later the Croats became the first opponents to beat
England both at home and away in any qualifying series. Players’ technical
standards don’t change so much, so quickly, but the ability of changing
managers can. Eriksson was better than Otto Baric in 2004, Slaven Bilic is
better than McClaren now. Simplistic, but significantly true.
McClaren said at the outset that he should be judged on results, and for once
he was spot on. History’s verdict has to be a damning one, for there are no
excuses. The players at his disposal should have been good enough not just
to qualify for Euro 2008 but to win a group that was deemed little short of
a walkover when the teams came out of the hat in Montreux in January 2006.
“Told you so” is never the most attractive of phrases, but some of us are
not surprised by what has happened.
McClaren’s accession after the World Cup was never seen as a cause for
rejoicing in these columns, and I stand by the following, written in May
2006: “Like the public (his disapproval rating in the polls is 76%), the
media are unimpressed. After three months of dithering, the FA got the man
they had all along, Sven-Göran Eriksson’s trusty No 2. They teased us with
‘Big Phil’ Scolari, a World Cup winner, and gave us Little Old Steve, from
the heady heights of 13th place in the Premiership, where Middlesbrough have
won 12 matches and lost 16, conceding more goals than they have scored. That
the country’s joy was not exactly unconfined was understandable, and
not-so-super Mac’s honeymoon could be the shortest on record.”
Southgate, who was McClaren’s captain at Middlesbrough at the time, had used
this newspaper to warn the FA against his appointment. The former England
defender, now manager at the Riverside, said McClaren “wasn’t ready” for the
job and advocated the appointment of Wenger. Southgate revealed that after a
humiliating 7-0 defeat by Arsenal and a 4-0 drubbing at home to Aston Villa
there had been “mutiny” in the air, and that the chairman, Steve Gibson, and
a group of senior players, not McClaren, had quelled it.
A born No 2 (the role in which he forged his reputation with Derby County,
Manchester United and England), McClaren was never up to the job, and
appeared to acknowledge his shortcomings when he brought in Terry Venables
to advise him. Ignore the past week’s crocodile tears from the players. That
they had no faith in the coach can safely be taken for granted. There is no
hurry to find a new coach, with the fixture list blank until February.
Meanwhile, Brooking will represent England, and negotiate on their behalf,
at the World Cup draw in South Africa today. After that, let the search
commence. And let’s have it done properly.
The poisoned chalice: England managers from 1946-2007
Sir Walter Winterbottom 1946-63 Mentored by Sir Stanley Rouse, the
Football Association secretary, England’s first manager was a schoolmaster
whose teams were picked by an FA selection panel
Sir Alf Ramsey 1963-74 England’s most successful manager was second
choice after Burnley’s Jimmy Adamson turned down the job. Another
Rouse protege, Ramsey won the 1966 World Cup and might have repeated the
feat four years later. He was sacked after failing to qualify for the 1974
tournament
Don Revie 1974-77 Leeds United’s manager was favoured by Dick Wragg,
the Yorkshire roofing contractor who chaired the international committee, at
a time when the job should have gone to Brian Clough. Revie was a
disappointment, decamping for a pot of Middle Eastern gold after failing to
qualify for the 1978 World Cup
Ron Greenwood 1977-82 Greenwood established West Ham’s reputation as
the ‘Academy’ with the Moore-Hurst-Peters class of fond memory. Backed by
Sir Harold Thompson, FA chairman, in preference to Clough, again the
People’s Choice
Sir Bobby Robson 1982-90 Robson offered to resign when England didn’t
qualify for Euro 84, again after the 1986 World Cup and a third time after
losing all three games at Euro 88. Sir Bert Millichip, the provincial
solicitor who was then FA kingmaker, refused. Reached the World Cup semifinal
in 1990, but was alienated by Millichip. Quit for PSV Eindhoven
Graham Taylor 1990-93 Chosen by Graham Kelly, the FA’s chief
executive, and Dick Wragg, international committee chairman. Caricatured as
a turnip when England lost to Sweden at Euro 92, Taylor was sacked after
failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup
Terry Venables 1994-96 FA adviser Jimmy Armfield identified Venables as
the professionals’ choice. Manchester City’s Peter Swales, purveyor of
electrical goods and international committee chairman, wanted Tottenham’s
Gerry Francis, as did Noel White, his business partner and Liverpool
director. They were outvoted, but after White took over Swales’ role, he
refused Venables the new contract he wanted in 1996, when his team were
European semifinalists
Glenn Hoddle 1996-99 Sir Alex Ferguson made his interest known, but
Chris Willcox and Keith Wiseman, two FA councillors, wanted Hoddle, and he
was appointed. It wasn’t results but his quasi-religious beliefs that cost
him the job
Kevin Keegan 1999-2000 Enthusiastic, but emotional and tactically
naive, he quit in the Wembley toilets after a 1-0 defeat by Germany,
admitting: ‘I’m not up to it’
Sven-Göran Eriksson 2001-06 Adam Crozier, the FA’s trendy young
chief executive, and Arsenal’s David Dein wanted England’s fi rst foreign
manager, who was derided when his teams went out in the quarterfinals of Euro
2004 and last year’s World Cup. Who’s had the last laugh?
Steve McClaren, left, 2006-07 Crozier had gone, replaced as go-getting
front man [are you sure? – Ed] by Brian Barwick, a former TV executive.
Barwick approached Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, was embarrassed by
the Brazilian World Cup-winner’s volte face, then told us McClaren had been
his first choice all along. How wrong can you be?
Who’s who on the FA board?
Sir Geoff Thompson The FA chairman is also Uefa vice-president
Brian Barwick FA chief executive since 2005, he played a key role in
Steve McClaren’s appoinment
Sir Dave Richards Premier League chairman and heads Uefa’s Professional
Football committee
David Gill Chief executive of Manchester United
Phil Gartside Chairman of Bolton Wanderers
Lord Mawhinney Former Tory politician who became Football League
chairman in 2003
David Sheepshanks Ipswich Town chairman
Barry Bright The face of Kent FA is one of five regional FA
representatives. The others are:
Dave Henson (Devon),
Michael Game (Essex),
Roger Burden (Gloucester) and
John Ward (Hampshire).
