Serbia’s Spanish coach Javier Clemente is going through the same ordeal as his axed England counterpart Steve McClaren after both sides missed out on Euro 2008.

Like McClaren, the 57-year old Clemente faces the wrath of an unforgiving soccer-mad nation and while he says he wants to carry on the chances of that look slim.

The big difference here is that the Serbian FA chiefs, who vowed to back him at the body’s December 6 meeting, may go down with him.

Hailed as a saviour when he took over in July 2006 following the Serbia and Montenegro state union’s dismal performances in last year’s World Cup, Clemente made no friends among the media or the fans in the months that followed when he said one must stay sober and realistic in victory and defeat.

Slip-ups in Kazakhstan and Armenia that derailed Serbia’s bid to reach their first major tournament as an independent nation made things worse as the pundits started sharpening their knives at approximately the same stage McClaren’s future with England looked doomed (see Kevin Fylan’s blog from March).

Like England, Serbia were thrown several lifelines by teams playing for pride rather than a berth in the Euro 2008 finals and squandered them all.

But while England fans saw their Euro hopes dashed by Croatia at the new Wembley Stadium in front of 80,000 disappointed fans, only a few hundred Serbia supporters turned up the same day for the home match with Poland, whose 3,000 travelling contingent were as shocked as reporters braving the November cold in Belgrade.

It came as no surprise when around 400 showed up for Serbia’s final game at home to Kazakhstan on Saturday, rescheduled twice due to heavy snow. The meaningless 1-0 win provided an anti-climax to Clemente’s valiant effort to take a young side lacking international experience to a major tournament at the first time of asking.

Like McClaren, the lively Basque has taken full responsibility and refused to criticise either the fans or the players, even though he was let down by both when he needed them most.

But should managers shoulder all the blame for defeat in a sport as complex as football? Doesn’t the manager need support, through thick and thin, to stand a chance?

PHOTO: Javier Clemente gives instructions during a Serbia training session in Brussels, August 21, 2007. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir