England's laboured 3-0 victory over Andorra in Barcelona on Wednesday failed to turn down the heat on embattled coach Steve McClaren.
England were booed by their own fans at half-time in the Olympic stadium after a goalless first half and McClaren was subjected to abuse and vitriolic chanting for virtually the whole 90 minutes of yet another sterile display.
Steven Gerrard's second-half strikes may have avoided complete humiliation but McClaren's decision to end the post-match press conference after less than two minutes simply gave the voracious tabloid pack another reason to hound the former Middlesbrough manager.
"Macca Walks Out" was the back page headline in the Daily Mirror, sarcastically adding... 0"Sorry folks, it was only his post-match press conference".
The Sun's back page said "Mac cracks but he's beaten the sack" while its inside story described the performance as "utter garbage".
The Daily Mail was slightly more measured in its reaction, although one article described his decision to shun the press as "graceless" and questioned his ability to deal with the blows that come with the highest-profile job in world football.
After a traumatic few days, which also included a 0-0 draw in Israel, McClaren will get some brief respite now as the focus returns to the Premier League title race and the latter stages of the Champions League.
England do not play again until June 6 when they travel to Estonia, although with their three group rivals all having comfortable looking matches four days before they will almost certainly be playing catch-up by then.
Wednesday's results left them in fourth place in Group E on 11 points, the same as Russia and Israel and two behind group leaders Croatia. Croatia and Russia both have a game in hand.
"We've got to make sure we beat Estonia in June and are ready for the run-in," McClaren said in The Times. "It's still in our hands."
Despite public backing from the players, McClaren faces a huge task in trying to win over the public before the next Euro 2008 qualifier in Estonia.
Patience with the English national side was already wafer thin after a poor World Cup finals when McClaren was Sven-Goran Eriksson's assistant.
The 0-0 home draw with Macedonia followed by a 2-0 away defeat by Croatia, the stalemate in Tel Aviv and Wednesday's scrappy victory against one of the worst teams in world football has further eroded faith in the team.
Captain John Terry, however, pointed the finger at England's fans. "They are entitled to their opinions, but for the players' sake and England's sake, it would be a lot better if they kept it until after the game," he said.
"The booing and the shouts about the manager aren't helping."
Liverpool's Gerrard, who revelled in his central midfield role in the absence of injured Frank Lampard, added: "It was one of the most difficult 45 minutes I've experienced in an England shirt. We could hear the abuse and there was a lot of pressure."