Thank god he had to go,but the question is now who do we have as manager?

Thursday November 22, 2007 10:28 AM


England manager Steve McClaren has been sacked.

Football Association bosses meeting to decide McClaren's fate also sacked assistant manager Terry Venables.

It follows England's desperate 3-2 defeat at home to Croatia on Wednesday night, which sent the team crashing out of the Euro 2008 tournament.

FA chairman Geoff Thompson said the board had ordered a "root and branch" review of the arrangements around the senior team.

He said: "At a meeting of the board this morning, the FA board unanimously decided to terminate the contract of the England head coach Steve McClaren with immediate effect.

"Like every England fan, we are all bitterly disappointed that we have failed to qualify for Euro 2008. I know that Steve feels that disappointment more than anyone."

FA chief executive Brian Barwick said: "I would like to apologise to the fans personally.

"I care about this passionately. I'm in this job because I care about football and football fans and football teams. I understand that we have let them down and I apologise for that."

Euro 2008, which is to be held in Austria and Switzerland, is the first major tournament England have failed to qualify for since the 1994 World Cup.