Steve McClaren’s honeymoon period with the media, and possibly England supporters, is over; the pressure on for results and as he is about to find out, friendlies are just another stick with which to beat him. He was always on a hiding to nothing, irrespective of the results, too closely associated with the previous regime in which he had considerable influence as Eriksson’s Number Two.

The matches so far have not shown any progression, the same limitations apparent under the Swede are still weaknesses under McClaren. The debacle in Zagreb proof to some that he has nothing new to add to the role. “I bet you’re wondering how I knew, ’bout your plans to play 3-5-2” as Slaven Bilic may have said to the only Quiff still involved in football. Quite easy to answer that – McClaren bowed to media calls for something different after another poor performance in qualifying at home. All of their clamourings available for the world to see courtesy of the internet or reportage in their respective countries. The draw against Macedonia could quite easily have been dismissed as a blip by a stronger manager, or a defensive line-up by his opponents as Arsene is using as an excuse this season. However, the clamour for something different was too strong for McClaren and so he leaked to the media about playing a formation that none of the players have used in recent seasons, even the older members of the squad would struggle to remember the last time a club side used it. Their opponents, however, play it all of the time and were quite comfortable exploiting the less techncially gifted opponents. The final score of 0 – 2 the signal of open season on the team and coach. The ruckus after the match where a numpty abused Rooney merely fodder for the massed media to create havoc, the same who had clamoured for the change prior to the match.

The England role is unique in that the weight of expectation is unparalleled in football. That the nations history in international football gives no rise to that expectancy is neither here nor there – forty years of hurt? Try one summer of overachievement. The 1966 World Cup win did come out of the blue. The era of England’s ascendancy already over, the 1962 World Cup and 1964 European Championships had given little or no indication that a World Cup win was on the horizon. Save for the fact that it was to be held on English soil, the squad would not have ranked amongst the favourites for the tournament; expectancy of a Quarter Final at best elsewhere in Western Europe. That they did win should not be denigrated but it is also a basis of false hope, and yes, I expect England to win every time there is an international tournament but know full well they won’t.

The media however, are exactly the same whilst portraying a completely opposite picture in print. It is unpatriotic to say England will not win, anyone who dares to voice that opinion is a traitor to the cause. Yet these false messiahs of the printed media who portray themselves as saviours of the game are the first to put the boot into the team when things do not go to plan; something that the majority hope for as it is easier for them to be destructive than constructive. What the team requires is strong leadership in this situation. What we have now is someone prepared to flip-flop to their tune, tactics devised on the fly. No doubt the Head Coach will claim he always had these in mind. If so, why drop them like a hot potato when things do not go well? Surely if you believe in them, you would pursue them, nurturing the squad into them? McClaren’s problem is that I do not believe he thought this up. A goalless draw was all it took to shake his belief in 4-4-2, the relentless media pack scenting blood forced him to; if he was going to change, he would have been better served by 4-5-1 which is easily adapted to 4-3-3 on the attack or 4-4-2 if required. The minute you put three centre halves on the pitch, there are problems if one of them cannot switch comfortably into defensive midfield positions and currently there is only one English player who can do that, Ledley King.

Readers of this blog with a long memory will recall I was not in favour of McClaren; he was as much to blame for the 2002 & 2006 World Cups and 2004 European Championships as Eriksson. This time, on his own, he is beholden to the media clamour. If they say “Jump”, he does it irrespective of his own convictions. If he were serious about tinkering, and that is what he did, then the matches against Greece and Andorra were the perfect vehicles to do so. It is not as if he knew little or nothing about the squad; he had worked with them regularly over the preceding four years. Therefore, it is logical to assume that he had nothing new to impart, merely a different working methodology. The time together would have been better served preparing them for foreign fields, tough away games in Croatia, Russia and Israel. McClaren is going to be another media victim, tomorrows match another nail in his coffin. Unless he withstands media pressure, he will be the incumbent until Euro 2008. Fail to qualify and it will be 2007.