Just how bad was McLaren?

To be fair, not even the FA wanted Steve McLaren to manage English.

It was just that their first choices all said no. So having been left with McLaren, England was left to hope he could do at international level what he’d never managed to do with domestic clubs – succeed.

No-one thought McLaren was likely to make England world-beaters, but no-one surely expected him to turn them into such a disaster.

England seemed sure to qualify for the European Championships, even after their early results were dreadful. First, Israel lent a hand by beating Russia, and then Croatia opened the door a little wider by losing its penultimate game. So all England needed to do was draw at home to Croatia. But no, they couldn’t even do that.

Given that McLaren had failed to deliver, you’d expect him to do the decent thing and resign. McLaren had other ideas though, knowing full well that waiting to be sacked would entitle him to a couple of million pounds in compensation.

McLaren will be remembered as one of England’s most ineffectual, unappealing, and useless managers. Playing a meaningless friendly against Austria, days before the crucial Croatia game, seemed ill-timed. It seemed bloody crazy after Michael Owen was injured and ruled out of the Croatia match.

England’s failure prompted much soul-searching in the press about whether the English Premier League was to blame. After all, the growing number of foreign players means there’s less space for English stars. When Rooney and Owen were ruled out, McLaren only had Crouch, Defoe or Bent to pick – none of which get much first-team club action.

But let’s re-wind to the last World Cup. England were one of the favourites, we had a great squad and heavily tipped to do well, with roughly the same players as we have now.

It’s easy to blame the influence of foreign players, but a new Gerrard or Rooney will always find a way through. While so much money persists, the clubs will be able to take their pick of the world’s top talent. And while the European Union insists on freedom of movement, the EU’s stars will keep coming.

The problem is partly down to McLaren being inept, and partly to players not taking responsibility for the failure. Roy Keane hit it on the head when he said too many English stars were paid too much and cared too little.

Still, with a World Cup draw that gives them Croatia as their toughest opponent, surely they won’t fail again, will they?

Toony fury over Barton plea

When you’re looking for a peacemaker, Joey Barton isn’t the first name that springs to mind.

However, when Newcastle fans were angered by their dismal performances, it was Barton who decided to leap to his team’s defence.

Barton, not renowned for bringing tranquility to troubled times, laid into his own fans after they berated Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce.

Barton said: "I've not yet seen the famous crowd I was expecting to hear get behind us. Instead it has been vicious; I don't think I've heard a crowd that vicious."

Barton, who joined from Manchester City in the summer for five million pounds, said fans should start backing the players and the manager.

“The fans want success and they want it straight away, but unless they change that mentality and start supporting the side through poor results then things won't change. Unless there's a massive change, it's going to be the same for this manager, the next manager and whoever comes in after that.

"If it continues, when the manager goes for players, they will go somewhere else rather than jump in the frying pan. Sam's a good manager. He's getting the brunt of the criticism but doesn't deserve it. Not many managers can turn a club round in five minutes."

So there you have it, Newcastle fans should just put up with shocking results and learn to bite their tongues. Needless to say, Geordie fans didn’t take too well to this advice.

Newcastle could do well to field the likes of Michael Owen when they want to pacify fans and not a player who nearly got sued after leaving a team-mate unconscious during a training ground fight when at Man City.

Probe into Asian betting

First it was Italian football, then it was Harry Redknapp (allegedly)

Now it seems that corruption may have hit Euro 2008. 

UEFA have denied claims that Euro 2008 qualifiers are part of a match-fixing investigation but have admitted Intertoto Cup matches were being looked at.

UEFA, European football's governing body, is looking at 15 Intertoto matches that may hqave been fixed. A Germany magazine claims there are 26 disputed games, including matches from the preliminary round of the Champions League, two UEFA Cup games and one Euro 2008 qualifier match.

The teams affected are from eastern and southern Europe, notably Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia, as well as the Baltic states.

Much of the investigation will focus on Asian betting syndactes and irregular betting patterns. Large money placed on relatively small games tends to get the attention of football bosses. At a time when everything from baseball to the Tour de France is embroiled in scandal, the last thing football needs is a match-fixing debacle.

Ronaldo rules

We never thought we’d say it, but Ronaldo probably is the best player in the world.

It’s not easy to write such a thing about the little git who ruined England’s World Cup bid by getting team-mate Wayne Rooney red-carded, but it’s true.

Brazilian star Kaka may have been named the world’s best player recently, but is he really greater than Ronaldo? He plays in Italy for a start, a far slower league where someone as good as Kaka is bound to shine. Ronaldo, on the other hand, has to shine in the Premiership, where he gets a (justly-deserved) clattering every now and then and still manages to perform his magic.

Argentinian legend Diego Maradona gave Ronaldo the nod too as the world’s greatest (but then he’s harldy likely to back a Brazilian is he?). Ronaldo may still be far from the finished product, but he’s as important to Manchester United as Cantona or Keane ever were, and there can be no greater compliment.