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Hardly news to most readers that England are out of Euro 2008, and already the repercussions are flying, and the coach has been sacked.

Have to say I’m not altogether fussed. I’m a cursory follower of football. Can’t get too excited by anything other than the big internationals, and even then the media frenzy that surrounds England at every step is usually enough to put me off. The short term memory of the football pundit. Last night was a case in point: Everybody expected at least draw. Defeat was unimaginable. And England got beaten fair and square.

I didn’t see much of the match: Frances wanted to watch Heroes (and I did too to be honest), and after I got back from an absolutely wonderful run in the cold and pouring rain, had showers, warmth and food (Frances made a marvellous Chilli Con Carni) on my mind, rather than watching what I understand was a shambolic performance.

Sacking the coach seems appropriate - there were some strange decisions in this match and during his tenure - but is it entirely his fault? The coach is always the most visible target, and has to take plenty of responsibility, but surely the players also have to take some of the blame. I gather they were almost all a bit crap last night. After all, there’s only so much the coach can do during a match. And I’m puzzled they don’t tie payments in to achieving results. As it is Steve McLaren walks away with a few million quid, when his contract should (in my view) be tied to ensuring the team qualifies for these major tournaments. But I suppose it’s a competitive market for such coaches, and who’d ever want to be England coach? Seems they have to pay a lot to get the good coaches… And even then…

Up here in Scotland of course, it’s a different story. McLeish and the Scotland players are viewed as having done a stunning job, despite the team not qualifying, so McLeish is being courted by big clubs, and Scotland would love to keep him as coach. It’s been a positive experience, despite the disappointment. It was, you could say, pragmatic patriotism: Great if we get through, but hey, we’ve had a good run and seen some great football. England pundits and fans could learn something from Scotland’s example.

If there’s anybody who should take the blame for the feelings of depression across England right now, it really has to be the media. Continuing the mass delusion that we actually have a world-class football team, when everything I’ve seen in the last couple of years, particularly when the pressure is on and the performances really matter seems to show the contrary. The media need to get a grip, and stop getting carried away by their own hyperbole, and England fans need to stop listening to them. Presuming there are any left.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 22nd, 2007 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Football, Personal, Scotland, Sport, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.