I've had enough of Steve McClaren, even if the docile, unintelligent, quiff-haired, so-called manager takes us to Euro 2008. And why have I had enough? Because England deserve better - much better than this bloke can offer. As if it's not bad enough that we are struggling to even reach the finals, we have had to endure the same old boring rubbish served up by our inglorious national squad for years.

Let me say from the outset that McClaren is no worse than Sven-Goran Eriksson. But at least the Swede had the balls (literally) to keep us entertained with his off-field antics. I mean, if his players could creatively move round a football pitch the way he allegedly managed to round various bedrooms then we'd have won last year's World Cup and Euro 2004 by a distance.

As it was, we were stuck watching Frank Lampard, Peter Crouch et al plod along doing nothing. And, would you Adam and Eve it, we get more of the same with the less-than-sexy Steve.

'If the FA have the money to rent offices in Soho Square, or to pay PR agencies and media luvvies huge sums of money, then they have the money to find an appropriate manager to run the England team'


Now is it me, or is this the same McClaren who, as manager of Middlesbrough, had to stave off irate fans throwing season tickets at him - not to mention sending his team out to play in half-empty stadia at home? This is the boss of the England football team, for goodness sake. And it was only a bit of magic from Stevie Gerrard that saved us the embarrassment of not beating the might of Andorra by a big margin.

If the FA have the money to rent offices in Soho Square, or to pay PR agencies and media luvvies huge sums of money, then they have the money to find an appropriate manager to run the England team. Sadly, we have been down this rocky road before in their choice of boss. It was quite clear that when Sir Alf Ramsey was pushed, Brian Clough and not Don Revie should have been given the nod. And I say this as a Leeds fan.

Similarly, Graham Taylor and Kevin Keegan, nice chaps that they were and are, proved that this kind of job was akin to being chief exec of Tesco, when their capability of managing at national level was replenishing the boxes of  Weetabix in the Bury St Edmunds branch.

I'm sure McClaren means well, and that he is a 'football man' through and through. But being understudy to Sir Alex Ferguson before taking on the Boro of Journeyman hardly fills us long-suffering fans with joy. Have you seen the body language of England players? They look like they are going through the motions, hardly up for it. So what psychological techniques is the boss using to get them 'in the mood'?

And surely the FA have got the money to send him on a course to deal with the media. He always seems to be on the defensive, unable to justify team selections or tactical decisions (although it's hard to see what those decisions are based on at times).

I'm one of those patriotic types who would prefer to go with an English boss, although I concede that the likes of Sir Alex and Monsieur Wenger would be excellent candidates. If we don't qualify for Euro 2008, then McClaren has to go, and good riddance I say. But if we do make it, then OK, let him have his 15 minutes or group matches of fame, and when we've lost in the quarters or semis to the likes of Holland, then he can go.

My choice as a long-term prospect is between Steve Coppell and Sam Allardyce. Why? Because they have proved themselves to be more than competent and, more importantly, to get the best out of average players (with respect to Bolton and Reading).

And you have to give Allardyce credit for not ending up in a slugging match with the Incredible Sulk. I mean, to keep Nicolas Anelka more or less happy in that hotbed of cultural opulence known as Bolton, is one hell of an achievement, not to mention getting Chelsea to stump up a lot of dosh for a less-than-average Israeli centre-back (yes, I know Big Sam was not there for the transfer itself, but he paved the way by creating the fuss).

Coppell's achievements are even greater. Reading - isn't that near to Slough, where the fictional buffoon David Brent is from? And they finished eighth and produced some pretty good football. Coppell had success, too, at Crystal Palace, was a very good player and has a brain in his head to deal with all the nonsense that goes with the job.

We work hard, pay our taxes, put up with the usual stuff from the missus, all in the hope that our national team can make us hold our heads up high. But time after time we are disappointed and never more so than when they turn in rubbish like they did in Croatia and Israel.

The time has come for the fans to make our voices heard and demand action. I'm not looking forward to the qualifiers coming up against Israel, Estonia, Russia and Croatia. If he fails, he will be hung and left to dry by the media, and in this case, I will have no sympathy for the bumbling buffoon.