Humble Pie Can Nourish England

TEAMtalk's Jon Holmes considers the future for Team England - players, manager, fans and the FA - following the miserable events of Wednesday.

Driving back up the rain-lashed M1 after an evening at soggy Wembley, the doom and gloom of England fans was all too apparent.

Minibuses with the George Cross draped inside the rear windows contained sorry-looking faces, of men, women and children contemplating a summer without the giddy excitement generated by the build-up to a major football tournament.

Inevitably, disappointments such as Wednesday night result in an elongated period of soul-searching.

So while Football Association chairman Geoff Thompson has already promised a "root and branch" examination of the senior England team set-up, it is entirely appropriate that everyone connected with the Three Lions takes a long, hard look at themselves.

First up, the manager. Steve McClaren appeared to be the most forward-thinking of all the protagonists on Thursday when he held an unusual press conference in which he invited questions, almost all of which he then deemed unfit to answer.

Instead, the York-born jobseeker whittered on about how he had learned so much from the England experience and that he was now "a better manager". Either he had already re-jigged his CV, with Premier League and Championship posts becoming available all the time, or he's saving his juicy barbs in the hope he can get a book out on the shelves in time for Christmas.

Perhaps the most likely route back into the game for McClaren lies at his old haunt Middlesbrough. With Gareth Southgate struggling to keep the Teessiders afloat in the top flight - they currently lie 17th - who would bet against Steve Gibson asking the club's most successful manager to come back to The Riverside?

Moving on, how can the players change for the better? Simply by failing to even qualify for a major tournament - let alone stuttering to the quarter-finals like in recent years - their reputations have been severely dented. No matter what they achieve at club level, England's 'golden generation' routinely fail to shine on the international stage.

Putting aside talk of egos and bank balances (both of which are never likely to diminish), our best hope looks to be the overriding sense of shame and embarrassment that the players must be feeling. We must assume that there is still a feeling of pride attached to the England shirt; if not, the whole exercise is entirely futile. McClaren never offered much in terms of intelligence, direction and inspiration. All those qualities must combine to channel the players' natural ability and aggression - and now their pain too - into results.

Now we turn to the FA. Chief executive Brian Barwick, flanked by the board, apologised on Thursday, telling the fans "we care about this very much", and "won't pass it over and move on". So no one will be resigning, and Barwick won't be sacked along with McClaren.

That is disappointing. Barwick may have excelled in the arena of TV sport, and has recently negotiated the most lucrative rights deal (around £600million) in the FA's history. But little suggests he cuts it as a football headhunter, a charismatic figure able to schmooze with the game's big personalities and convince them to sup from the poisoned chalice that is the England job.

Last year's botched search for the right man does not bode well as we begin the process all over again.

Nevertheless, Barwick will be entrusted with the task - and it must be handled thoroughly, away from the public glare of the media and without unnecessary deadlines.

Fortunately, there is plenty of time available to identify a manager who fits the bill - experienced, methodical and wise. Basically we're looking for Sven-Goran Eriksson again, but without the rampant libido.

England's next competitive game is not until September 6. Realistically, the FA can afford to wait until the end of the current season to appoint a permanent boss and after the Euro 2008 finals, many more candidates will be available. The speculation will be intense, but Barwick must go away, consult with respected footballing knights of the realm such as Sir Bobby Robson, Sir Trevor Brooking and Sir Bobby Charlton, and recently-retired internationals like Alan Shearer, decide upon his prime candidate and then recruit him.

As for Geoff Thompson, he has been chairman of the FA since 1999. In a few days' time, interviews will begin to find his successor, an independent chairman who will be appointed next summer. This procedure was mapped out in the Burns report, and deemed "a path to modernisation". So the wheels of change are finally turning, and if the idea of a National Football Centre at Burton is revived as a result, then England will be on the right track.

Finally, we turn to the fans. After this latest crushing disappointment, the least we deserve is a clash against Scotland, the Auld Enemy, to get the pulses racing in the summer months. Rather that than the likes of Switzerland at a half-empty stadium.

But can the supporters change in any way to help the team achieve better results? Sadly there will always be a Neanderthal element that chooses to boo the opposition's national anthem and randomly swear and boo at England players. However they are the minority, albeit a vocal one. The vast majority are those who venture from all corners of the country, packed into minibuses heading to Wembley or on flights to Zagreb and Moscow.

They will wholly accept that Croatia emerged victorious on Wednesday night because they proved they were the better team. So the main change for the fans rests in our mindset. England expects no longer, and if the sorry tale of Euro 2008 qualifying has taught us only humility, it will have been a lesson worth learning.