Nurse, Nurse, lock up McClown pleeeease. [Merged]

[larus]

McClaren 'expects' qualification

If we do, it ain't because of you, you ruddy faced plonker.

 

[Bozza]

I was saying this was utter bollocks when I heard the same in the car this morning...

I fully expect us to have qualified for the campaign.

Now, I'm enough of a realist to know that he can't come out and say "We're really in the shit now, aren't we?", but when your fate is completely in the hands of another team, to be talking with such bravado really is madness.

All that said, I'm not convinced getting rid of McLaren, should we fail to qualify, is the right thing to do. I know a lot is being made right now of the parallel with Bobby Robson in '84 - failed to qualify, resignation offered, resignation rejected, England then improved under Robson - but is the kneejerk "sack him" approach really always the best way to go?

 

[Dave the OAP]

interesting article on the back page of teh Argus Lite, where Wilkins senior recons we should have qualified at a canter. he doesnt think any of the teams in our group " can live with us"

There you go then...Wilkins for manager

 

[jonny.rainbow]

And he drops the best player from the last 3 England games cos fatty has had a couple of good games for Chelsea.

 

[Statto]

To be fair though, If he came out and said that we wouldnt qualify, he would have been slaughtered aswell. He cant win whatever he says. Hes been asked a question and cant really ignore it. He's still a twat though.

 

[Bozza]

To be fair though, If he came out and said that we wouldnt qualify, he would have been slaughtered aswell. He cant win whatever he says. Hes been asked a question and cant really ignore it. He's still a twat though.

Of course he can't say "we won't qualify", but he can answer in the same tone as most of the players have done, with something like "it's out of our hands now, but if Israel are able to get a result against Russia we will be in the right frame of mind to get the result we require against Croatia".

 

[Silent Bob]

And he drops the best player from the last 3 England games cos fatty has had a couple of good games for Chelsea.

Really he should be dropping Gerrard.

But then, his team isn't picked on form.

 

[sten_super]

I was saying this was utter bollocks when I heard the same in the car this morning...



Now, I'm enough of a realist to know that he can't come out and say "We're really in the shit now, aren't we?", but when your fate is completely in the hands of another team, to be talking with such bravado really is madness.

All that said, I'm not convinced getting rid of McLaren, should we fail to qualify, is the right thing to do. I know a lot is being made right now of the parallel with Bobby Robson in '84 - failed to qualify, resignation offered, resignation rejected, England then improved under Robson - but is the kneejerk "sack him" approach really always the best way to go?

But at least Robson had some pedigree as a manager, after all that he'd achieved at Ipswich. I wasn't around then, but it seems that he had already proven himself to a degree to not be completely crap; what had McClaren proved when he took over? And all he's done since his appointment is confirm suspicions that people had about him.

And he drops the best player from the last 3 England games cos fatty has had a couple of good games for Chelsea.

I cannot believe that yet again he has fallen into this trap. If he is going to drop anyone from that centre midfield, it should be Gerrard. We have proven, time and time again, that Gerrard and Lampard do not work. Why do they keep persisting with it? It is Barry OR Hargreaves, partnered by Gerrard OR Lampard. Sort it out McClown!

 

[Franks Wild Years]

McClaren

Last Updated: Friday, 16 November 2007, 09:11 GMT

McClaren 'expects' qualification

::angr::angryangry:

 

[crodonilson]

After a dissapointing start under McLaren we've been steadily improving for the last 6 months, I thought we were terrific in Russia and very unlucky, why throw away that improvement and progression by throwing our toys out of the pram if we fail to qualify.

 

[Bozza]

But at least Robson had some pedigree as a manager, after all that he'd achieved at Ipswich. I wasn't around then, but it seems that he had already proven himself to a degree to not be completely crap; what had McClaren proved when he took over? And all he's done since his appointment is confirm suspicions that people had about him.

I'm not saying we should be keeping McLaren, I'm just saying that I don't think the approach should always be "fail to qualify = automatically sack the manager and get a new one in".

 

[e77]

I don't think he should go unless the FA are sure they can get someone better in, i.e. Mourinho

 

[saltash seagull]

i don't think we should be getting rid of him

he was supposedly the right man for the job 2 years ago - not my view
results have improved as time has gone on even if they haven't been against the best opposition i just think as bozza said to get rid of someone everytime the going gets tough or we dont qualify dont do any good.i think he has learnt over the last 2 years and that maybe we should put that to our use in the world cup qualifer's

 

[sten_super]

I'm not saying we should be keeping McLaren, I'm just saying that I don't think the approach should always be "fail to qualify = automatically sack the manager and get a new one in".

It's a fair point. But I think McClaren has been shown wanting at this level. You have to remember, when the draw was made for this group, everyone was saying what a great draw it was, what an easy draw it was. Yet England have made it look anything but.

We have undoubtedly improved over the course of the campaign, but have we improved enough for McClaren to keep his job? I'm not sure. The FA should certainly be putting out feelers on the quiet, seeing who would be interested and available for the job. IMO they should sack McClaren if they can get someone better in to replace him. If they are just going to sack him and appoint Allardyce/Pearce or similar then there is absolutely no point.

 

[Silent Bob]

After a dissapointing start under McLaren we've been steadily improving for the last 6 months, I thought we were terrific in Russia and very unlucky, why throw away that improvement and progression by throwing our toys out of the pram if we fail to qualify.

I think we were less appalling then he originally made us, but still by no stretch of the imagination good. We beat a few mediocre teams, ok, but even when we beat Russia 3-0 they looked far more capable of passing the ball and keeping possession then us. This showed up badly in Moscow where all we could do was hope to hold on to the lead against wave after wave of Russian attack, and predictably it didn't work.

So I suppose if you count McClaren giving us THE worst England performances since Graham Taylor, but then managing to turn things around and get us to mediocre and a slightly lower level than when he took over, then by all means keep him. But the thing is, that shouldn't be good enough because we're England, not Middlesbrough.

To be honest even if we do somehow bungle through I'd still say he should be sacked.

 

[Marshy]

McClaren has to go and will go if we dont qualify.
I personally would sack him even if we do make it, he simply isnt upto the job.

Non qualification in possibly the easiest group we could possibly have been drawn...how can he stay !

Anyone saying otherwise...clueless

If you want the worry that we wont qualify for a world cup...keep him

 

[Bozza]

Is it an easy group though? Really?

Croatia and Russia are both good technical football teams.

Isn't saying "it's an easy group we should breeze through", displaying some good old fashioned English arrogance?

 

[Silent Bob]

Is it an easy group though? Really?

Croatia and Russia are both good technical football teams.

Isn't saying "it's an easy group we should breeze through", displaying some good old fashioned English arrogance?

At the time the group was drawn every man and his dog were saying it was an easy group, but I was saying Russia and Croatia were decent sides. But look at all the groups, there are two, maybe three, you'd consider easier, but there are also harder ones, and I think this is a group we should be in control of, certainly have our fate in our own hands. We've dropped 10 points in the qualifiers, that is too many. There is no shame in losing away to Russia and Croatia (although the manner of these defeats was poor), but there is no excuse for not beating Macedonia at home or Israel away (I know not many teams do but they were there for the taking).

The worst thing for me has been the way we've done it, even when we've won. Even the recent 3-0s at Wembley have not been that convincing imo, and the nature of McClaren's selections which seem to have been selected based on media hype and popular opinion rather than anything else have been awful.

McClaren is just not the man to take us, or any international side, forwards.

Also something of a side issue but we're paying him £2m a year, only half what we paid Sven but still amongst the best paid jobs in world football, do we really think McClaren is one of the best managers in the world?

 

[Pavilionaire]

We're now struggling because we've underachieved in not 1 or 2 but 4 key matches, 3 of them away to our nearest rivals.

More than half of football journalists, if The Sunday Supplement is anything to go by, think he should be sacked if we don't qualify. Some of the England team think the same.

It was a fairly straightforward group to qualify from: take 7 points from 9 at home to Russia, Israel, Croatia and 5 away. At best we'll now take 10. And the other golden rule is you have to beat sides No. 5, 6 and 7 in the group - we cocked up against Macedonia.

If the first World Cup qualifier is against, say, Bulgaria away and we lose will McLaren and his team be able to overcome that setback? I suspect not.

 

[sten_super]

Is it an easy group though? Really?

Croatia and Russia are both good technical football teams.

Isn't saying "it's an easy group we should breeze through", displaying some good old fashioned English arrogance?

Yes it is an easy group. Look at the available options for the group;

1st seeds: England
2nd seeds: from Germany, Croatia, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Spain, Romania
3rd seeds: from Serbia, Russia, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Slovakia
4th seeds: from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ireland, Belgium, Latvia, Israel, Scotland, Slovenia
5th seeds: from Hungary, Finland, Estonia, Wales, Lithuania, Albania, Iceland
6th seeds: from Georgia, FYR Macedonia, Belarus, Armenia, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Moldova
7th seeds: we would beat them all

We avoided a big team from the 2nd seeds. Admittedly got a hard 3rd seed. A relatively easy 4th seed, easy 5th and 6th seed. That's an easy group.