It has emerged that it would cost the FA just £2.5m to sack
Steve McClaren. Previous reports had indicated that the financial
penalty of dismissing McClaren, whose record as England manager is
the worst in history, would be a prohibitive £7.5m. However, The
Daily Telegraph has disclosed that, rather than pay up McClaren's
three-year deal in full, a clause in his contract stipulates just a
single year's compensation.
Although the FA are understandably reluctant to make McClaren a
multi-millionaire in response to his inqdequcies, £2.5m is a
miniscule sum compared to the estimated £100m cost of failing to
qualify for Euro 2008.
However, the indications from inside Soho Square are that McClaren
will survive - for now, at least. According to The Telegraph,
'there remains little appetite within the FA for a managerial
casualty, particularly while they are still paying off his
predecessor, Sven-Goran Eriksson. The credibility of the FA's chief
executive, Brian Barwick, is also tied up with McClaren's.'
