Euro 2008 qualifying: Winners and losers

Failure, despair and disaster. For the Home Nations and the Republic of Ireland the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 has been a pretty miserable experience.

None have qualified, two managers have been sacked, there have been goalkeeping clangers, fights on aeroplanes and one national coach even had an Uzi machine gun waved in his face!

But twinkling faintly amidst the gloom, there were some glimmers of light which offered faint hope for better fortunes in the future.

Check out our 10 winners and losers of the European Championships qualifying campaign, then have your say below.

Who were your biggest successes and failures? Did we leave anyone out? Give us your views on England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Comments

[Bat]

oh and we din't lose it in that game it was all games before that we lost it in.

I was shocked he din't get sack after his first few games and that he even got the job as he was wrong from start.

[Bat]

"At last McClaren has gone. How any English manager has the nerve to stand infront of the crowd and his players with an umbrella does not deserve to be in the job.."

I have never seen a manager do such a thing before lol.

He put the new goaly in so he could, say yes i put him in i am the best. If they won ofc but he backfired.

I am glad he is gone its just a shame that we din't draw then got Mourinho for euro 2008.

Question is will beckham be to old in two years time for the world cup?

[Andreja,Croatia]

I'm from Croatia and I wanted you to pass...

[nirmal]

Totally gutted by the English Performance.We lost against a weak team which has been unheard of few yrs ago-Crotia,and not good enough to pass the qualifying stage-Utter and biggest shame to wear an disgraced English tea shirt now,and the whole team should be punished not only the manager.All these players who failed yesterday earning millions of pounds.Can you justify this?.If an employee is not at his best at his work he will certainly be sacked from his/her employment.This rule should certainly be applied to English team.

[alan,welsh scouser]

don't know if he fell out with Beckham in the Man U days, but as stated in a previous commented McClaren treated Beckham with contempt and it has cost him, the team and the supporters. It must have hurt to bring Beckham back, but it was too little too late. We need some one with fire and passion to instill into a lacking team.

[Tester]

This is the testing message.

[Paul Morris]

Nice work if you can get it. Sacked, and he still walks away with over £2 Million. Whose the loser?

[keith]

When are the English national side going to play with the passion of the Scottish national side. If the English FA can find a manager who can achieve this, with the heart of the Scots and the ability of the English, then surely England would win every tournament..England always seem to put in a lacklustre performance against poorer opposition and totally fall apart against good quality opponents.

[Allan]

McClaren deserved what he got, he played players out of position,(as he did at the Boro),we could'nt wait to get rid!.
He also played a keeper in a game of this magnitude and importance with no international experience, we were never going to get anywhere with a manager who was totally inept in all departments.
Now we have to watch the Euro finals with nothing to shout for, we are the laughing stock of Europe!!
Goodbye and good riddance Steve McClaren!.

[Tired of excuses]

How about the players taking some of the blame. We have some good players, but not great, or world class. We always blame the Managers, but how many bad managers have we had?????, not that many. The players and officials of the FA are more interested in personal ambitions than are proud to represent England. Our best player last night was Beckham, and he is supposed to be past it.

Our players are over hyped, over payed and if they were to be sold in shops, they would be returned as faulty goods or not complying with the advertising literature.

Maclaren did not let us down on his own, our players were the biggest contributors to out embarressment. Until we instil the same passion as Scotland, Ireland and to some instance Wales, we will always under achieve.

Wake up the FA

[terry bennett]

To turn around anything be it a business or a failing team takes a whole new set of psychological skills every England manager to date has failed to adopt. Theres only one person in these whole trophy forsaken islands to turn to in this our dark decade of despair. Yes it may sound ridicules to the underdeveloped mind but think about it, he has the will of a Spartan and is unrelenting in his pursuit of excellence he could turn a burger wagon into a Michelin star restraint. Remember its England’s future we're talking about here. but I reckon Gordon Ramsey is the only man with the steel equipment to take on this task and I challenge you the people to support that claim.

[Trev]

McClaren was a waste of space when he was at Man Utd and he was an even bigger waste of space with England. The only good result from last night is that hes got the boot and I dont mean the golden one. Get someone in there who has really got guts and sort all those so called super stars out.

[Gman]

Home Nations collective failures???? Not sure I feel that way entirely. Although I am shocked at the decline in the English team’s performances of late, I still think that the group ended as it should have based on performances over the period of the qualifiers.

On another note, I am really proud of how Scotland have performed in the qualifiers, from the beginning the Scots group looked like the group from hell, but finishing 3rd 1 point from 2nd & 2 from top spot and with that only being decided on the final day, I think the Scots have a lot to be proud of and to look forward to. Not only did they take the world champions to the end of the wire, but along their way, they turned in some terrific performances and outstanding results.

[jeff]

The FA are totally to blame. McLaren should never have been appointed but where is the talent coming through. The acadamies are not producing young beckhams or a fabregas. The youth coaches should all be replaced. Venables was just there for the ride. New broom required top to bottom. The only possible exception is Stuart Pearce who is so proud to be english he tries like crazy

[mr a wardley]

what a joke that team was on wednesday night, with the exception of beckham and crouch, andto think that most of those playing are millionairs, there is no justice, there are too many players in there who remain because of their exagerated talents, we need a manager who has the talent to find and recognize new,( all english managers only know one way to play, and now weve seen it for so many years that even any fan could have picked that side on wednesday, and probably have played a better system), talent, preferably a top class continental. we have the likes of barry and richards but even they have to be coached properly, not allowed to run around the field like a disorganised mob. get a coach who knows how to play a fruitful system and stick with that system, not change it every 5 minutes, and and any player who dont earn his corn , get rid of him, not keep him just because he is a big name with a matching paypacket.

[Vikki]

Now we need to get Mourinho as Manager - he will sort them out!!

[sharon]

mclaren is a muppet he should have never had the job in the first place, the players are at fault too,they are paid too much for wotever result they do,i said after 2 matches that england WOULD NOT get into the euro no passion to win.

[J D Spencer]

At least Scotland showed some balls when they went out of the tournament. In a MUCH weaker group England were pathetic, pampered, overpaid - and utterly useless. The only exception is Crouch. He may not be god enough - but at least he plays his heart out.
Jon D

[scotland supporters]

i was in tears when croatia scored thier 3rd goal tears of laughter. so glad england didnt fluke qualification again HA HA HA ENGLAND

[Richard Dring]

At last McClaren out, wrong man in the job to start with....the FA should spend the money on somebody like mourinho not a nobody like McClaren who did nothing at middlesbrough

[graham]

do you really think england deserved to qualify? not a chance a 2nd rate performance by a team with no passion, unlike scotland who should have qualified from an impossible group but played with pride and passion and were extremely unlucky. wait till world cup qualifiers

[Stodge]

"Why should I care, I own a Ferrari". Too many overpaid prima donna's who don't have the IQ of a snail never mind any soccer skills. I'm sure most of these overpaid idiots would be rather off on their expensive holidays than toiling away at Euro 2008. The sooner we get rid of so many overseas players and have English players fighting for their places in the internatonal side then and only then will we progress.

[Jenny]

Mourinho for manager!

[Jenny]

I think that the game really changed when the two subs were put on. Changing the tactics like this really helped. Those two players showed what they could do. They are the winners.
As for those to blame: can think of players, fans, and certainly the manager. We are better than that performance. Bring on the world cup.

[Darryl Bale]

At last McClaren has gone. How any English manager has the nerve to stand infront of the crowd and his players with an umbrella does not deserve to be in the job..