In the 2001 film Mike Bassett: England Manager, the national team only qualifies for the World Cup by virtue of Luxembourg defeating Turkey. The film is an exaggerated satire of the England team but sadly it actually came true on Saturday evening.

England were in the ignominious position of needing Israel or Macedonia to get a result against superior opposition. In an amazing twist of fate, both countries, despite having nothing to play for, pulled off remarkable victories leaving England firmly in charge of their own destiny.

That is not to say that Steve McClaren's men have already qualified. Indeed, I doubt any England fan up and down the country is taking Wednesday's game at Wembley for granted. The odds, though, are now strongly in our favour. Croatia have already qualified for the finals; combine that with our ‘solid’ home record on paper the game should be a formality.

'Players such as Stuart Downing, Alan Smith, Phil Neville and Wes Brown need to be cut. They have had umpteen chances at this level and continually disappoint'


However, let us not forget, we have a limited manager and a strike force that on current form would struggle to score in a brothel. Little Mick and Big Emile are out injured and the only man who possesses any semblance of form is Liverpool’s Peter Crouch. McClaren will inevitably go with a 4-4-2 formation, wary of the last time he altered his tactics against Croatia. His decision to axe Gareth Barry and start with the infamous midfield four against Austria seems ominous.

If the England side do contrive to actually overcome Croatia and book their flights to Austria and Switzerland next summer, it will be a crucial few months for McClaren. Having evaded an almost certain sacking, he must forget the qualifiers and try to stamp his own authority on this England team.

The current squad will undoubtedly fail in an abject manner next summer. Players such as Stuart Downing, Alan Smith, Phil Neville and Wes Brown need to be cut. They have had umpteen chances at this level and continually disappoint.

McClaren needs to introduce the likes of Arsenal's Theo Walcott and Aston Villa's Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor, who would inject some much-needed pace into our attack. The major debate, however, will surround David Beckham. His short spell in the States has proved every cynic right: MLS is of a very poor standard and despite what he claims Beckham will lose the sharpness that is needed at international level.

To my mind, Becks is only in the squad so he can reach 100 caps. After that his International career will be over unless he is loaned to a Premier League side in January, an unlikely scenario.

Thus we return to the crux of the matter - Mike Bassett: England Manager. In the film, England struggle through the group stages before inexplicably hitting their stride to get to the semi-finals where they lose out to Brazil. If this current crop of England players stick to the script I’m sure most fans would appreciate a semi-final.