As ever it is always the manager who comes under the spotlight, writes Lawrie McMenemy in his weekly Daily Echo column today.

Roy (Hodgson) was right when he said after the game against Poland that the most he could really have expected was a draw.

We will find that he is totally realistic and does not flannel too much when it comes to the team he is now managing.

But wasn’t it a complete farce the way the game had to be delayed?

Surely there are questions to be answered about the lack of forethought in Poland, with the failure to close the roof on the stadium meaning that the weather conditions spoilt proceedings and left many England fans having to head home hundreds of pounds out of pocket and unable to wait the extra day for the match to be played.

I have always said that the other three British teams will struggle not only to qualify for the European Championships, but particularly the World Cup.

Quite simply, there aren’t enough players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland playing at the highest level in the Premier League. The fact is that only about a third of the players on show each week are British in any event, with the majority of those English.

I remember when I managed Northern Ireland, I was lucky if I could get four or five players from the Premier League, and with due respect to them they were not big names.

Yet, in competitive games, we had to line up against the cream of Germany, Italy etc.

Some people argue that we should enter an Olympic-style team, with all the home nations combined, but that will never happen and nor should it.

People shouting for the heads of the Scottish and Welsh managers should bear these facts in mind.

Read more of Lawrie's views in today's Daily Echo