Every England fan has an opinion on Mclaren, and not many that I’ve spoken to are in support of him. Like Sven before him, his lack of tactical awareness staggers me. Take last Friday for example. What exactly could we gain from that match? Some will argue that it helped to bring the team together and get them playing as a team. What was the point in the game though? Admittedly, with hindsight, playing the game was the wrong decision. But it was said beforehand that the choice by Mclaren to play the starting 11 who will start on Wednesday against Croatia was foolish at best. And so it proved to be.

As a Newcastle fan it frustrates me that, once again, Michael Owen has gotten injured serving his country. The fact that I am one of the fans who help pay his wages, makes it even more frustrating that I’ve seen him play more in an England shirt since he signed for us than in a Newcastle shirt! Mclaren now talks about how he has a striker problem as though this is some kind of dilemma he’s been given by someone else. You picked the team Steve, you live with the consequences of it. After all, that’s what you get paid a ridiculous amount of money to do!

Those of you that know me, and that have discussed football with me since Mclaren’s appointment to the England job, will have heard me say this before. I still can’t believe that, when the powers-that-be at the FA sat down when Sven left and looked at the market, that they really thought the best person to take on the role of England Manager was a man who had just steered his Premiership club to 14th in the league. Certainly a managerial force to be reckoned with, obviously. More I fear that the FA bowed down to the pressure from the media, who seemed intent on England being managed by an English manager. “Look at other countries” they cried. And they will again. Sure Alex Mcleish has done a fantastic job with the Scottish team this time. As a Scot himself I’m sure it made the achievement even sweeter (apparently not qualifying for the tournament is not a failure in Scotland – nothing like setting high standards for yourself!). That’s all well and good when you have such great managers of your nationality. And England does have. Just not Mclaren.

I hate to admit this, but I feel in the sense of full disclosure that I have to. Part of me really didn’t care what the result was on Saturday. Sure if Russia lost then that’s good as it gives us another bite of the cherry (one that we shouldn’t have needed I hasten to add). If Russia had won and we hadn’t qualified then there’s always that part of me that thinks “Great, that’s the end of Mclaren then”, and I really think that is what the England team needs. We need to get back to the days of the Venables-style football. Remember Euro ’96? How many of you thought we’d go all the way, and I mean really thought (and felt) that we would? I know I did. I remember the stunned silence at the end of that penalty shoot-out like it was yesterday. And it hurt. Now? Who truly expects us to go on and win next summer?

For me Mclaren has to go. He’s tactically inept, doesn’t seem to know which players to play in his “best” system, or which system to play to make up his “best” team. Who should replace him? There are a few names that spring to mind, but none of the English names are available at the moment. So we’re left looking overseas, although that isn’t a problem for me. As long as the team play well I don’t care where the manager comes from. If England qualify on Wednesday night the media will think Mclaren is great again, fickle beast that they are. But surely qualification should be the minimum that English football expects, not viewed as some kind of prize in itself?

Hopefully Maclaren’s reign will be coming to a close very soon, and we can employ a manager who knows how international football works, who understands that a friendly 5 days before a qualifying match is not the time to play a “first” team, and who can adjust the system to fit the team and vice versa. That man is not Steve Mclaren. Looking back I really have to think that the only people who were happy when Steve Mclaren took up the England job were his bank manager, and Middlesbrough fans…

But the problems last night don’t stop there. On the pitch there is only one word I can think of that sums up the performance. Incapable. And that goes from front to back. It appears that we have a new “Calamity” James in the shape of “Calamity” Robinson. Fair enough the ball bobbled over his foot when he went to clear Neville’s back-pass. But he wasn’t under any real pressure to kick it. He could have controlled it and played it out calmly. The defence looked shocking. Gary Neville was a spectator for the first goal (hope you got a good view of it Gary). Carragher looked shocking. Ferdinand seemed more interested in doing his utmost to get sent off rather than actually playing.

The midfield didn’t fair much better. Parker looked out of his depth. Carrick confirmed that only a lunatic would pay £17m for a player who can’t pass or control the ball. Lampard looked out of sorts again. None of the midfield seems happy on the ball and none of them instilled any confidence when it came to passing. Up front I almost have to weep. If Crouch and Rooney are the best pairing of English strokers at the moment then we might as well just give up now. Rooney is in a “crisis of confidence”. Fine. Don’t play him then. I’ve always been a big fan of using a system at International level whereby the best in-form players get to play. Unfortunately Mclaren seems to prefer sticking to ineffective pairings. Crouch looked tired and disinterested. To coin a phrase, between them, they couldn’t have scored in a brothel last night (which given Rooney’s alleged off-field antics is quite something!!). It’s heartening for me as a Newcastle United fan that it was mentioned 4 times on Sky’s coverage last night that “England are missing Michael Owen and his pace”. A speedy recovery would not go amiss!

So where does this leave us? Well we’re still in the running to qualify, no doubt about that. But if we continue to “perform” the way we did last night then what’s the point? The England team currently look completely disinterested in anything, and are a team in name alone. Nobody makes good running off the ball (especially Crouch) and we’re just not good enough. Hopefully this is just a blip and normal service will be resumed in the next match against Israel.