Part of the statement given out by the FA officials to explain the sacking of Messrs McClaren and Venables brought a wry smile on the basis that the least an England manager has to do is qualify for tournaments.

Had it applied in the past, it would have meant that the two most successful England managers ever, Sir Alf Ramsay and Sir Bobby Robson, would have also been out after two years.

That would probably have meant that gold star now worn on the shirts and tracksuits of our millionaire players would not be in evidence.

It should be remembered that, for all our talk of being the best league etc in the world, in the history of football we've only ever won one tournament.

However, Steve McClaren could not argue that he could really be put in the same category as the two knights of the realm.

Both of those before they took on the job had a lot more experience, particularly as being a No 1 in club jobs.

The fact that Steve had worked as Sven-Goran Eriksson's No 2 helped in some respects by taking him round the world and being part of the international scene.

But the very fact that he was a No 2 made him closer to the players.

As I have said before, that became more and more apparent when as manager he used nicknames such as Stevie G, JT etc.

In the training sessions where the press were allowed in, he always appeared to try and be one of the lads when joining in parts of the training as opposed to giving the impression of controlling everything.

Being a manager at any level can be quite a lonely job. Let's face it, there is only 92 in the English professional game at any one time, albeit you have to keep checking the names as sackings are becoming more and more the norm.

In the past it could be argued that every England manager had the pick of many different top class players for each position.

But it is fair to say that Steve McClaren has probably come in at a time when the foreign invasion has finally taken over.

Figures produced recently show that there are three foreign players to every one English player in the Premiership with clubs like Arsenal fielding XI foreign players nearly every week.

Consequently, there are a group of players now who know for a fact they will be automatically selected for the squad.

This is where Steve possibly showed his inexperience by not letting more of them realise that they had to work harder and do better to retain a place.

To go back to when Steve was appointed I, along with many others, said we felt it was right to have an Englishman, or British manager, with experience at club level to take on the national team as opposed to a foreign import.

Most of us had doubts about Steve's readiness for the main job.

Questions will also be raised about the role Terry Venables took.

At the time his appointment was proof of the question over Steve's experience, Terry having been around at most levels, both home and abroad, for much longer.

Little has been heard or seen of him during Steve's rein and I must say I probably know the feeling better than most.

I was in a similar position alongside Graham Taylor, although I was more concerned with the B team which we had in those days and the under-21s - but I did join up with the national team on matchdays.

There are many frustrations and Terry will no doubt have experienced them.

This happens with the younger manager naturally wanting to prove that he is ready and able. It is possibly in his mind seen as a weakness if he has to ask for help or advice.

My argument has always been that the national job ideally should be for a British manager who has had a long career at club level which on taking on the national job cannot be changed.

They will have no doubt had highs and lows with more success than failures or they would not have got the top job.

The press would have usually come through it with him and little time would then be wasted in questioning his abilities.

The press, of course, is a vital part of working in the No 1 job.

But enough about the manager and his job, let's not finish without giving the players a mention.

Far too much hype and spin surrounds most things in modern life now, from politics right through to professional sport.

The football is packed out now with outsiders who are, in lots of ways, feeding off the game whose expertise is anything from psychology to dealing with the press.

Everything is done for the players at the highest level. They have all got agents and it is obvious, from the way they do interviews to the way the national team has actually been playing, that our top players are very much in the comfort zone.

They talk a good game, they talk about pulling together and, when they do pull off a result, they give the impression that they have been hurt by the criticism leading up to the fixtures.

The FA themselves have not necessarily handled Steve McClaren's reign, from his appointment to his dismissal, in the best possible manner.

To give the impression over the last week or two that their final decision on Steve's future would be decided by the attitude of the crowd is passing the buck.

The way forward has got to be surely an examination of the production line from school age through to top level football, which has undoubtedly fallen behind other countries over the last decade.

Too much concentration has been given by clubs to foreign imports and, apart from the obvious top clubs in the Premiership, I would ask how many of the clubs in the lower divisions have actually had any success at all by bringing in young foreign player?

That is as opposed to the old system of scouring their own local kids league at school and Sunday morning-type football where, in the past, my own club brought through Steve Moran, Steve Williams, the Wallace brothers, Shearer, Le Tissier etc.

It is indeed a sobering fact that next summer's European Championships will not have one team from Great Britain.

The spotlight will continue to be on Steve McClaren and his failures will be repeated.

But the psychologists and the spin doctors that were happy to be around him whilst he had the No 1 job will as usual drift into the background waiting for the next one to come along.

2:47pm Monday 26th November 2007

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