But sack him now
England 2, Croatia 3. Actually, you won’t get the chance because he’ll resign. Or he should. It barely matters that this was the game that decided our Euro 2008 fate. The fact is that it was so abject and depressing that had it been the first game, we’d have been howling for change. I’m not going to point the finger at individual players, that is pointless. The real problem is that in a game we only had to draw, we didn’t ever look like doing anything but losing. The formation was wrong for 45 minutes, the players were lacklustre, scared I think. They played poorly (apart from Crouch). There was a fundamental failure in leadership and management here and Maclaren has to carry the can for that. We were given a second chance and we absolutely blew it.
I’m too disappointed to say anything clever and incisive. Next summer is going to be a desert for England fans. And that will hurt.
All too sadly predictable, really. We never looked like a team that wanted to qualify, whereas Croatia really looked like a team that wanted to beat England on the night.
Have made my own comments on the matter at length…