Steve McLaren RIP

McClaren leaves his post as statistically the worst England manager of all time, having lost five of his 18 matches in charge. Yet, with more than two years left of his contract, he will be entitled to £2.5m in compensation.

From the Guardian Unlimited piece about his sacking. Worst. England. Manager. Ever.

I'm desperately trying to think of a worse coach of a major international football team in living memory. Cesare Maldini? Erich Ribbeck?

Yes, they did, as did their team mates.

Despite team mates being obv. not good enough to play in Premiership

Is he more incompetent than the bloke who lost those computer discs?

Alastair Darling for England job

POLL !

(xp)

They come over here, steal our newspapers, humiliate our football team...

.. play in the premiership...

The front page of the Sun was so despondent, like they couldn't even be bothered to castigate or mock him.

mcclaren's problem was that his ENGLAND tactics didn't include enough MADDIE coverage, and selcting CARSON ahead of THE PEOPLE'S PRINCESS was never going to get the FANS on his side.

available jobs for mediocre managers- birmingham, ireland, england.

available (relaistic) pool of talent- houllier, souness, jewell, mcclaren, venables.

Strachan for birmingham, ireland, england

I was just about to say there was one English manager who still had a chance of managing a team at Euro 2008 but, having checked last night's results, seems he's out too

No chance, the wee man's half a season from being a legendary 3-in-a-row winner.

McLeish for Brum might be a goer.

xpost

I'm desperately trying to think of a worse coach of a major international football team in living memory.

Tommy Burns answers Dom:

http://images.scotsman.com/2004/11/02/0211dontb.jpg

Not sure if Scotland have counted as a major international football team for a long time

Be fair, I said "living memory", and there are some people still alive from the 1890s

Hey there, 1900s at least

And the last time England could credibly have been called a major international football team was...?

Oh sorry, I see you answered the question before I asked it.

And the last time England could credibly have been called a major international football team was...?

^^^this is a good question. 1990?

Maybe '96 tbh. Reaching semis makes you a major team.

mcclaren is a rolemodel for anybody who has ambition. apply for the top job, you might well get it through luck, and then you can even be shit at it and then end up set for life with £2.5million.

you can't write fairy tales more exhilarating than this!

"That's a pretty lousy message"
"Hey, I'm a pretty lousy manager"

Depends you mean by major surely. Holland's recent record aint' too clever - are they a major international football team?

And the last time England could credibly have been called a major international football team was...?

They still are a major international team, but not as much as Portugal, Croatia, teams like that

Really though, I guess it's too much to hope for that the FA might have the nuts to stop this sacking-compensation nonsense next time round and just say 'here is a plum job which we will continue to pay you a handsome wage for doing and if you don't like it, don't take it'?

You see this watch? You see this watch? That watch costs more than your car. I made 970,000 quid last year, how much ...

xpost this is analagous with the Spurs / big clubs thing again kinda isn't it

No. Tottenham are not a big club and that's all there is to it.

^^^4-4-2

I love Bilic's comments, that chain-smoking ear-pierced maverick mastermind roxors.

In order of pref:
1. Mourinho
2. Capello
3. O'Neill
4. someone else really good not though of yet
5. Sanchez *tumbleweeds*

All immaterial without big France1995-esque shake-up and learn to generate Henrys and Drogbas...Italy manage to juggle international success with a rich high-profile domestic league (never mind the dire straits it's in otherwise) - must emulate that. Must emulate the Germans if possible altho it seems they just never fail because they've never failed...but their recovery from terrible performances in the last two Euros suggests there's more to it than that. These countries all share cultural pros and cons with England and it's football to the extent that their virtues can surely be adopted here to an extent that England can do as those three have done.

As was already alluded, forget 'pride' and 'passion' spend more time and money on 'skill' and 'intelligence'.

And the last time England could credibly have been called a major international football team was...?

getting to three quarter finals (however it happened) in a row makes you this imo

FABIO CAPELLO SEZ:

"Me to coach England? It would be a challenge, a beautiful test to overcome and I would have the right age."

"Me to coach England? That's unpossible"

No. Tottenham are not a big club and that's all there is to it.

Sorry, I meant the broad discussion of 'big clubs' across that thread which prolly wasn't clear

Bilic = mugger who after kneeing you in the balls and taking your wallet picks you up, tells you it wasn't really your fault and that you could definitely walk down this dark alley again tomorrow because he won't be there.

No. Tottenham are not a big club and that's all there is to it.

but england last night were banking their hopes on two strikers who weren't good enough to play for tottenham!!

Berbatov and Keane not eligible for England

Can't imagine another country where some of the native wfootball fans are glad when the national team doesn't qualify. There's your problem in a nutshell (it encapsulates the huge priority chasm here).

not shit enough

xpost

Can't imagine another country where some of the native wfootball fans are glad when the national team doesn't qualify. There's your problem in a nutshell (it encapsulates the huge priority chasm here).

don't think that's the problem but it's the symptom of the problem

the problem is MCLARENG NEEDED TO GO

question 3: would england have qualified under sven?

speculation is pointless but probably

Yes

Maybe. Same shit players however.

would have saved several million quid's worth of compensation though. could have used it to build a new youth academy

oh man i bet he'll have a book written as well and make further £££££

"why i'm shit"