Croatia are playing England at Wembley tonight. That very phrase makes your average England supporter cringe. In November 2007 a point against the Croatians at Wembley would have seen this allegedly ‘golden age’ of English footballers on the plane to Euro 2008.
Qualifying hadn’t gone brilliantly and we looked to have blown it with defeat in Russia but other results went our way and everything was going to be alright.
Inept
The only potential problem we had in getting a draw against Croatia was that England had their most inept manager at the helm for many years and I include Graham Taylor in that!
Steve McClaren was a very poor choice to replace Sven Goran Eriksson when he left the job. Everyone knew he was a poor choice it seemed apart from the people who mattered at the FA.
As we all know McClaren surpassed himself that night by handing a debut to goalkeeper Scott Carson. It was an unbelievably bad decision and ultimately cost England a place at the Euros as we went on to lose 3-2.
Creditable
McClaren is now in charge of FC Twente in Holland and led them to a very creditable runners-up spot in the Eridivisie last season. There is a real chance that he could go one better this time around. I can’t begin to understand how he can achieve success. He has done a great interview with the BBC where he reflects on his time with England and that night in November 2007 in particular,
“It could have been one of the biggest moments of my career but it ended up being one of the lowest. There is not a day goes by that some aspect of the experience with England doesn’t come flashing back to mind and teaching me a lesson.”
On a terrible wet night at Wembley Steve McClaren cut a forlorn and frankly laughable figure on the touchline as a clueless England lost the game and he had no idea what to do to change things. The fact that he stood under an umbrella looked even sillier and earned him the unfortunate nickname of ‘the wally with the brolly’.
When asked if he remembered the terrible abuse he received from the English press and public after that game McClaren simply said,
“I won’t forgive or forget.”
The reason that McClaren is something of a hate figure or joke figure in England is made a little clearer to understand when you hear what he then went on to say in his BBC interview,
“The 18 months I was in charge we were gaining experience for the future – how to play, how win, how to approach games, it was a difficult period and we never quite got that together, although we were searching for it. I’m pleased now when I look at the squad, when I see the players maturing into more experienced pros, with a big game mentality, handling the situation home and away. They’re playing the way I always said they are capable of and I still believe they are capable of winning a tournament.”
Just what is the man talking about!? ‘Searching for how to play, how to win?!’ He says the players have now matured. At the time of his rein the likes of James, Gerrard, Lampard, Ferdinand, Terry, Cole, Neville etc, etc, were at the peak of their careers. They had played in European Championships and World Cups and the final stages of the Champions League. They were the ‘Golden Era’ of English football. They were the team that Eriksson took to three quarter-finals and Capello has taken to World Cup qualification.
Responsible
There is no doubt that McClaren was responsible for England’s failure. The players may have let him down, but they have performed for others so why not him? Having said that, nobody else has played Scott Carson!
In his BBC interview he is well aware that it was his fault,
“I knew what it meant to the fans and I felt as though I had let down a nation because we didn’t qualify. The responsibility was mine and mine alone. I had to take that, it wasn’t pleasant and I don’t want to have that again. That experience didn’t quite kill me and hopefully made me stronger.”
Debacle
I am really pleased for McClaren that he is now experiencing some success and for the fact that he is apparently well liked by the Twente fans. I’m sure he has worked hard and deserves to recover from the debacle of his England managership.
Despite that, like thousands of other England fans, I will never be able to warm to the man or fully respect him as a manager. I’m sure that I won’t feel the same about Capello after tonight’s game. Even if we lose, he hasn’t managed to put us in a position where that would be decisive. The fact is he is a better manager.
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