Who's to blame

With all of the England stars trotted out in front of the microphones and cameras to bleat on about who is to blame for the team's precarious Euro 2008 situation, where should we point the finger?

The players say don't look to Steve McClaren. Stand-in captain Steven Gerrard and a host of others, including the likes of Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Neville, are pleading for the boss to be kept on, no matter the result of a needlessly rocky qualifying campaign.

Martin Samuel, uber-columnist for the Times, has thrown his lot with Martin O'Neill to succeed McClaren for the job.

But with a seat alongside the spectators looming for the England squad, the best thing that could happen is for McClaren to be removed after his team fail to qualify. I would love nothing more for England to be competing in Austria/Switzerland next year, but for the good of the game, a proper housecleaning is in order.

The FA is in a state of flux. While the FA await the appointment of an independent chairman, the current board need to wipe the slate clean. This starts with removing the senior manager and will end once the heir is allowed the freedom to create a new national footballing regime.

While the next manager may not be Martin O'Neill, it certainly needs to be someone who is willing to look beyond the current squad to find and nurture young players. The top English sides are no longer bringing along domestic talent as they once were, so the England manager needs to find the greenest pastures for youth to grow.

That being said, the youth system needs to be addressed. England are sorely lacking in players outside the midfield and the only way to fix this is to work with the talent coming up through the system. This needs to start at the base level, where 11 and 12-year-olds can be given every opportunity to grow in the England set-up.

While I think he's overreacting, minister of sport Gerry Sutcliffe may be on to something with his suspicions about the influx of international talent deserves a look. Top foreign talent is a must for the English game, but perhaps there is a way to balance things so English talent is given every opportunity to succeed at home.

If England are preoccupied with Euro 2008, this will not happen. If McClaren is still the boss come 2008, qualify or not, this will not happen. If England were good enough and McClaren were good enough, they would have qualified already.