Tough road ahead for McClaren

When Sven-Goran Eriksson took over as England manager in January 2001, many were those who opposed his appointment on the grounds that a foreigner should not manage the national team.

At the time, there was no English coach who had enough experience and knowhow to succeed Kevin Keegan. It seems that this scenario exists today. Perhaps, the only Briton who could have put England on the right track is Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill.

When Keegan resigned, the FA was led by chief executive Adam Crozier, a Scot. He was bold enough to lure Eriksson, then at Lazio, to England's fold.

Eriksson didn't bring silverware to English shores but many fear that the same will happen with Steve McClaren, the current coach.

England qualified for every major tournament under Eriksson. The Swede felt that the media was the toughest opponent standing in his way and not international challengers during his stay in England.

McClaren could end up like past English coaches who failed to lead the country to a big tournament finals.

From day one, he wanted to show he was the boss even though he is aided by an ex-England manager, Terry Venables who, in 1996 at Wembley, failed to deliver in the European Championship finals. McClaren's first move was to axe former skipper David Beckham.

Beckham, who always gave his best when donning the England shirt, still deserves to be among England's first XI.

McClaren received a lot of praise when he tackled Greece and Andorra but he soon found out how tough the road ahead is, even against less-quoted nations in European qualifiers.

Since the end of the war, 12 managers have been in charge of the England team. The only one to win silverware was the late Sir Alf Ramsey.

McClaren has now been in charge of five internationals and the only coach to win them all was Eriksson.