England stars Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen handed Steve McClaren
a boost on Wednesday when they backed the beleaguered manager to
carry on even if England fail to reach Euro 2008.
McClaren's job is on the line as England face the prospect of
failing to reach a major tournament finals for the first time since
the 1994 World Cup -- an outcome that will be all but inevitable if
Russia win in Israel on Saturday.
But Gerrard insisted that the players believe former Middlesbrough
boss McClaren deserved to be given more time in the role.
"I'm certainly backing the manager," Gerrard said as England began
their build-up to a friendly with Austria in Vienna on Friday.
"I've got a lot of faith in him, I've enjoyed working with him and
speaking to the other players I'm sure they feel the same.
"There is no point changing managers every five months or every
year. You need continuity and I feel we are moving in the right
direction."
Owen echoed Gerrard's comments although the Newcastle striker also
dismissed reports that the players would be sending a delegation to
FA chiefs to try and persuade them to keep McClaren on.
"I think every player you would ask would back the manager, that is
a natural thing to do," Owen said.
"We think he is the right man for the job. All this talk of going
to (FA Chief Executive) Brian Barwick is paper talk but I think
every player will come out and say they hope the manager
stays."
If Russia fail to beat Israel, England will be able to qualify by
beating Croatia at Wembley on November 21 and they could also be
thrown a lifeline by Macedonia, who host the Croats on
Saturday.
If Macedonia, who can be difficult opponents, pulled off a surprise
win over the group leaders England could find themselves needing a
three-goal win over Slaven Bilic's side at Wembley next
Wednesday.
That would be a tall order and the more likely outcome must be that
the cream of England's "golden generation" will have to face the
wrath of their own supporters in a match with nothing at
stake.
"It could be a difficult week," Owen acknowledged. "We have got to
try to block out quite a lot of things and be in the right mental
and physical state so if anything was to go for us on Saturday then
we will be in the right frame of mind to go on and do our best on
the Wednesday," said the Newcastle star.
"It is all about preparing right and being in the right frame of
mind to pounce."
England find themselves in their current predicament as a result of
having squandered a lead in their last match, which ended in a 2-1
defeat by Russia in Moscow.
But they are also paying the price of poor results earlier in the
campaign, most notably a goalless draw at home to Macedonia and
their failure to beat Israel in Tel Aviv.
McClaren's position has been strengthened however by some good
performances this year, with England having won five consecutive
qualifiers 3-0 in the run-up to what was a somewhat unlucky setback
in Moscow.
"We had some sticky results at the start of the qualification
campaign, but certainly in the last half dozen games there has been
a massive improvement," Owen emphasised.
"We won five of them 3-0 and played some very good football in the
process. We had that one hiccup in Russia where we had a mad five
minutes but apart from that results have been on a steady upward
curve over the last few months."
With Wayne Rooney ruled out by injury, Owen is expected to partner
Peter Crouch in attack for both upcoming matches.
Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has been ruled out of
the trip to Vienna but could still feature in the Croatia game if
England need a result.
