LONDON: The signs weren't good when fans hoisted "McClaren Out" banners at the World Cup.

That was in June. Steve McClaren didn't become England's new football coach until Tuesday.

Successor to the much derided Sven-Goran Eriksson, McClaren is now in charge of one of the biggest underachievers in soccer and faces an almost impossible situation.

The fans don't want him. He doesn't have the charisma of a Luiz Felipe Scolari or Juergen Klinsmann.

He has won very little, only one third-rate domestic trophy with a low-key team. And, as Eriksson's second in command, he shares much of the blame for England's dismal performance at the World Cup.

Chances are good that the former Middlesbrough coach will add his name to the long list of managers who have failed to bring a title to the country that claims to have invented the game.

Since Alf Ramsey led England to its only World Cup triumph at Wembley 40 years ago, Don Revie, Ron Greenwood, Bobby Robson, Graham Taylor, Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Eriksson — all with impressive records and reputations when they took the job — have all tried and failed. England hasn't even reached a final of the World Cup or European championship. Eriksson failed to take the team past the quarterfinals in three attempts.

That's why the stars of that 1966 team, now in their 60s and 70s, are brought out for photo shoots and media interviews at every opportunity.

They are the only Englishmen to have won the game's biggest prize.

Talented line-up

England went into this year's World Cup with its most talented line-up in decades, including Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, Real Madrid's David Beckham, Newcastle's Michael Owen, Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Chelsea's Frank Lampard and John Terry.

"It will be totally different from Sven and his five years," McClaren said on his first day in the new job. "I will look to make a few changes and freshen a few things up. The aim is to try to bring the whole nation closer together, to bring the England team closer to the clubs and the fans."

The problem is many of the fans didn't want him in the first place. McClaren got the job only after England was turned down by Scolari, who led Brazil to its 2002 World Cup triumph before moving on to coach Portugal, and Guus Hiddink, who had standout results with the Netherlands, South Korea and Australia, decided to take charge of Russia's National team.

One decision McClaren didn't have to take was replacing Beckham as captain. The Real Madrid midfielder, whose trademark free-kicks inspired the movie "Bend It Like Beckham," stepped down from the captaincy after McClaren had dropped strong hints on the day of his appointment that he would give the armband to someone else.

But the new coach has to find the right tactics to make use of all that talent in midfield and attack.

Eriksson failed abysmally to do that and wound up confusing not only the fans, but also his own players. McClaren faces another big problem.

For all his failures at major tournaments, Eriksson had an impressive record in qualifying — only one defeat in 23 games, the highlight being a 5-1 victory over Germany in Munich. — AP

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