So just who is the least popular coach in Europe?
England’s Steve McClaren is facing concerted calls for him to go after a 0-0 draw with Israel on Saturday left the country in third place in Group E. A poll in the Guardian has over 75 percent saying he should make way for Terry Venables immediately.
F365 have taken to calling the manager Steve McClown, countless articles at Sportingo have it in for the coach and over at Who Ate All the Pies they are campaigning, none too seriously, for McClaren to be replaced by Plymouth Argyle manager Ian Holloway, a man who once likened himself to a cheap teabag.
But McClaren is up against some pretty stiff competition in Europe’s great unpopularity contest.
Italy’s Roberto Donadoni is really feeling the heat and on Monday he slammed the country’s media for what he calls a campaign to cause trouble. Italy are fourth in Group B but the coach makes the perfectly reasonable point that as Italy weren’t even playing on Saturday there is really nothing new to say. Of course, that will all change if the world champions manage to lose against Scotland on Wednesday.
And then there is Javier Clemente, once a wildly unpopular Spain coach who is now under fire in Serbia after they became the first team to lose a competitive international against Kazakhstan.
Have I missed anyone out?
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5 comments so far
At least Holloway would be entertaining - for all the calamities seen during the reigns of the likes of Graham Taylor and Kevin Keegan, they were not dull. England are as soporific as their manager, unfortunately.
- Posted by TomWhy not make the national team game serious, and play pairs against pairs….??
- Posted by "The missing manager"If Andorra vs England is suddenly understood as a real challenge then we are lost far off the road of common sense.
Those who love the game are not stupid, don’t fool them, play real football, play real competitions and stop making a joke of the country’s best players…!!!
We’ve exported el Clemente to Serbia? Haven’t these people suffered enough?!
- Posted by ElenaDitch McClaren quick smart and get Juergen Klinsmann in. Last week’s 2-1 away win over the Czechs showed Germany are still reaping rewards from the system he put in place before last year’s World Cup. England desperately need the mix of professionalism and passion for the game he embodies.
- Posted by Iain RogersMissing manager, fair point - san marino v germany, 13-0, was pathetic. But where do you draw the line? And aren’t some of these teams improving. Kazakhstan won for the first time the other day.
- Posted by Rafa