I'm not sure he is the best candidate but given the total over reaction to the early wins under McClaren and the equally OTT reaction to the last two games his name is bound to come up.
I think England lost because they are not that good. Sky and the rest of media constantly tell us how wonderful they all are but I can't see it. Forget the Neville OG. We were, from what I heard on the radio and saw in the highlights, outplayed before and after that and didn't have a shot.
Would Curbs make a difference? He can't make them world class players as they are not that but I think he would pick the team not the players or press and he would choose a pragmatic shape that suited the players he had and stick to it. It wouldn't be very exciting but we would qualify. REgardless he is available and will be mentioned in the press especially if we losr the next game. Big Sam is tainted goods now and they won't go abroad again soon. I don't think they will sack McClaren now but the press will start calling for Curbs or Peter Taylor soon enough.
I still think we will qualify at which point we will again be "favorites, good team, on the edge of greatness, easy route to final, no one to fear, 42 years of hurt, get those flags out again blah, blah, blah" as a result of finishing above Isreal.
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As for Curbs, I assume you are joking henry ? (Smiley winky thingy)
After the England match last night I watched Slovakia-Germany and it was like watching a different sport. The German team aren't full of superstars - Ballack and Lehmann aside they have few players who play for big clubs (or who do so regularly) or who would be recognised as world class, they mostly play for upper/middle ranking Bundesliga teams or equivalent. They passed the ball well, linked beautifully between defence and midfield and attack, kept the ball moving and played as some sort of coherent entity, like England they have one out & out striker in Lukas Podolski with Miroslav Klose playing a bit deeper and doing the graft. All simple stuff, done fluently and they ran out as easy 4-1 winners and away from home to boot. Like England they also have a new coach - in this case Joachim Loew who was formally deputy under Klinsman, yet he has kept their improvement going since the World Cup. Under McClaren England just seem to have regressed into a shambolic outfit with no confidence or idea of what tactics and shape they should be playing. Man for man a combined England German team would be mostly comprised of English players, yet who has the better team? Also this England team hasn't just been thrown together, it comes from mostly a small number of clubs and most of the players and have played with each other either for club or country for some considerable amount of time. Given that they should know each other's games inside out their inability to perform as a team at international level is worrying.
Would Curbs sort it out? I'm not sure, and I'd hate for him to have the job and then put up with the grief and tabloid pressure that goes with it plus the unrealistic pressure. These are highly paid professionals, supposedly the best that England can offer, maybe an argument can be made for including this player, or leaving that one out but that right now is re-arranging the deckchairs. What England lack is confidence and self-belief, the manager I would like to see is Martin O'Neill, he I reckon is the best candidate and could inspire the team.
Fortunately the next match isn't until the Spring so McClaren has time to sort things out, hopefully by then Hargreaves will be back and players like Rooney will be in better form plus one of Defoe, Bent, AJ will come through to displace Crouch, as others have pointed out Crouch & Rooney in the same team don't work.
in his last job he took over a team struggling to qualify for the 2002 world cup. he succeded in qualifying for the next 3 tournaments losing in the quarter finals (twice on pens and once to the eventual winners). in his 5 years in the post he only lost 1 competitive qualifying match.
contraversial. but that is his record with lets face it a good, not great side.