Under pressure: McClarenSteve McClaren has pleaded with the FA to let him continue as England head coach even if his side fail to qualify for next summer's European Championship finals. McClaren previously asked to be judged on the outcome of the qualifying campaign. But now he says he wants to stay and insists he is still the best man for the job even if England finish third in a group that Sven Goran Eriksson described as 'easy' after the draw in Montreux. Speaking yesterday on Teesside after naming his squad for next Friday's friendly in Austria and the potentially decisive qualifier against Croatia five days later, McClaren said: 'I want to go on. I love this job. I've got faith and belief in these players. I think that is the key thing. 'The performances we have had give me that. I can't control what happens and I'm not wanting to comment on speculation about what might happen. But we are going forward, I believe that.
'Look at the evidence of the last seven to nine months; how we handled the aftermath of Israel and Andorra; the way the team came together. 'I have received the backing from everyone in the organisation. From the likes of Brian Barwick, Noel White, Dave Richards, Geoff Thompson, the chairman, who after Andorra were very supportive and have been all the way through. 'I've had support off the players and I can see that is reflected in the performances. If they were poor, if they were like the first six months, where we were struggling to come together as a team, struggling with confidence, then yes I would say...
'But the way the team are playing, the way they responded. We are playing with attitude, we are playing as a team and we are playing good football. We have competition for places. I love working with this team, I love this job and this team will go on and be successful.'
There is support for McClaren while England retain a slim chance of securing a place in Euro 2008. Fail, however, and the members of the FA hierarchy he considers allies could quickly distance themselves from the former Middlesbrough manager. If Russia beat Israel in Tel Aviv next weekend, and all but end England's campaign, the prospect of encountering 90,000 seriously unhappy fans at Wembley is something that concerns the FA as much as their highest- paid employee.
Would they have the stomach for keeping him if the abuse McClaren was subjected to against Andorra in Barcelona is amplified by 10 at the new home of English football? McClaren nevertheless insisted all was well with team England. 'We all know when the team are struggling, when they are not gelling,' he said.
