The last time I posted, I spoke of the possbility of a British sporting renaissance. Since I uttered those famous last words, I will never dare of making such a suggestion for a very long time. In the time that has passed between entries, England bravely lost the Rugby World Cup final, Lewis Hamilton failed to win the Formula One World Championship by a single point, Scotland and Northern Ireland valiantly punched above their own weight to narrowly miss out on Euro 2008 qualification. These are achievements, but England's failure to reach Euro 2008 is just that, a failure.
A nation blessed with the richest league in the world and the home of the sport's heritage has failed to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since USA '94. True Steve McClaren had horrendous luck with injuries, but to use this as an excuse would simply be a facade. England got their "get out of jail free" card when Israel beat Russia, but they failed to qualify. McClaren's poor decisions continued to the last stand. He wanted to be popular and dropped Beckham, who along with Peter Crouch was England's best player against Croatia in that ill-fated qualifier. McClaren executed a poor piece of man-management when he dropped Paul Robinson for Scott Carson, who succumbed to the pressure in his first competitive start for England in their biggest match since the 2006 World Cup Quarter-Final. But McClaren's failure is history and he will go down as England's worst manager in England's.
The search for his successor has begun and former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is the fan's, and SvenSport's favourite. He has a proven track record and would be able to overhaul the national side that is a serious state of disarray. Italian coach Fabio Capello has great pedigree and is the only big name to throw his hat into the ring so far, but he does not speak English, which could be a hinderance. Harry Redknapp is the "outstanding" English candiate, but he feels his chances have been ruined by his arrest as part of the corruption in football investigation. England have a talented pool of players, but that pool is decreasing and the current group don't seem to able to gel. Whether the manager is Mourinho, Capello, Redknapp or someone else, they have a task on their hands. They have to take England to South Africa 2010 and restore some pride to English football.
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