A new era (continued)?

Andorra 0-3 England

I've seen some woeful England performances - for example, San Marino scoring against Graham Taylor's team after just 8 seconds in a 1993 World Cup qualifier springs to mind (England eventually won 7-1), and let us not forget last year's World Cup finals in Germany (ok, let's DO try and forget).

But last night's first half display against the Andorran part-timers was one of THE worst performances I have ever seen from England. Steve McClaran and his England team were mercilessly booed off the pitch at half-time by fed-up England fans and the booing continued at full time, despite face-saving second-half goals by Stevie Gerrard (2) and David Nugent.

I feel sorry for McClaren, he seems a decent enough bloke trying to succeed in what is truly an impossible job (just ask Sven-Göran Eriksson, Graham Taylor, Glenn Hoddle, etc). But he looks out of his depth at the moment and he's not getting the end-product from players who are supposed to be world class.
Yes - some comments by the fans towards McClaren and the footballers was foul-mouthed. But this England team doesn't deserve blind loyalty from their fans. After last year's under-achievement at the World Cup finals and the recent turgid matches, it's apparent that the supporters have had enough - and who can blame them?

This will probably sound like heresy, but the best thing that could happen is that this England team fails to reach the European Championship finals. But instead, they'll probably just do enough to qualify for Euro 2008, and this poor display will be submerged in the usual media hype Then they'll scrape through the group phase in Austria/Switzerland before dropping out against a middling team in the quarter-finals (on penalties, natch).

PS: I disagree with the fans on one point - the clamour to bring back "Brand" Beckham.
Andorra 0-3 England