Under pressure: McClaren
Steve McClaren has pleaded with the FA to let him continue
as England head coach even if his side fail to qualify for next
summer's European Championship finals. McClaren previously asked to
be judged on the outcome of the qualifying campaign. But now he
says he wants to stay and insists he is still the best man for the
job even if England finish third in a group that Sven Goran
Eriksson described as 'easy' after the draw in
Montreux.
Speaking yesterday on Teesside after naming his squad for next
Friday's friendly in Austria and the potentially decisive qualifier
against Croatia five days later, McClaren said: 'I want to go on. I
love this job. I've got faith and belief in these players. I think
that is the key thing. 'The performances we have had give me that.
I can't control what happens and I'm not wanting to comment on
speculation about what might happen. But we are going forward, I
believe that.
'Look at the evidence of the last seven to nine months; how we
handled the aftermath of Israel and Andorra; the way the team came
together. 'I have received the backing from everyone in the
organisation. From the likes of Brian Barwick, Noel White, Dave
Richards, Geoff Thompson, the chairman, who after Andorra were very
supportive and have been all the way through. 'I've had support off
the players and I can see that is reflected in the performances. If
they were poor, if they were like the first six months, where we
were struggling to come together as a team, struggling with
confidence, then yes I would say...
'But the way the team are playing, the way they responded. We are
playing with attitude, we are playing as a team and we are playing
good football. We have competition for places. I love working with
this team, I love this job and this team will go on and be
successful.'
There is support for McClaren while England retain a slim chance of
securing a place in Euro 2008. Fail, however, and the members of
the FA hierarchy he considers allies could quickly distance
themselves from the former Middlesbrough manager. If Russia beat
Israel in Tel Aviv next weekend, and all but end England's
campaign, the prospect of encountering 90,000 seriously unhappy
fans at Wembley is something that concerns the FA as much as their
highest- paid employee.
Would they have the stomach for keeping him if the abuse McClaren
was subjected to against Andorra in Barcelona is amplified by 10 at
the new home of English football? McClaren nevertheless insisted
all was well with team England. 'We all know when the team are
struggling, when they are not gelling,' he said.
