McClaren's jet-setting, conspiracy theories and Phil Neville

Internationals / Dan Fitch / 13 November 2007 / 1 Comments

Dan "The Betting Man" Fitch on England's squad to face Austria and why Wembley is likely to be half empty on Wednesday week

For someone who employs Max Clifford as his media advisor, Steve McClaren still somehow manages to fall folly to the tabloids. Take his recent visit to Los Angeles, to check upon the fitness of David Beckham. There was no way in the world, that this could have been anything else but a public relations disaster.

Firstly, in jetting out of the country, McClaren had to miss the top of the table clash between Arsenal and Manchester United. Secondly, LA Galaxy were up against even weaker opposition than normal that weekend, namely the Hollywood United team, which features such footballing luminaries as Vinnie Jones, two of the Sex Pistols and the current occupier of the role of Superman. Thirdly, when we'd all finished laughing at the news that McClaren was resting his hopes on whether Beckham could get the better of the Hollywood United goalkeeper (Without a Trace star Anthony LaPaglia), it was revealed that the England boss hadn't even attended the match.

The irony of the situation is that if McClaren really wanted to check on the form and fitness of the only talent that could give England a chance of qualifying, he should have booked a flight to Tel Aviv. All anyone English can do now is pray that Israel can at least hold Russia to a draw. The action can be caught live via Betfair Video http://livevideo.betfair.com/nd a lay of Russia at a price as short as (1.57) seems a good bet. Israel don't lose at home very often, whilst Russia have a pretty average away record. The size of your wager should depend on how much stock you put on the Roman Abramovic conspiracy theories.

If the Russians do win in Israel, then England's final group game at Wembley will boast thousands of empty seats throughout the whole game, rather than just for the first 10 minutes after half time (Motty will be fuming). But before the potential crunch match with Croatia, England must face a friendly on Friday night against Austria. Though we may have lost to both Croatia and Russia in the qualifiers, the Austrian match must surely be the most pointless.

I suppose it can be argued that the friendly will help England to gel before the real business next week, but personally I'd rather we just wrapped the whole team up in cotton wool so we don't get another centre back or striker injured. The previously jettisoned Sol Campbell may have to partner either Wes Brown or Joleon Lescott in central defence, both of whom have spent most of this season playing at full back for their clubs. The only other option is to play Micah Richards in the middle, which would mean losing his attacking thrust, not to mention opening up the frightening prospect of Phil Neville taking his place at right back.

If the defensive options are limited, the striking options are non-existent. McClaren is left with no other choice than to play Owen and Crouch. Though they tend to make a decent partnership, it is amazing to consider that the only backup comes from Alan Smith, who now plays (poorly) in midfield and Jermain Defoe, who spends more time sat on his backside than Jim Royle.

If McClaren is scratching his head as to who to pick in these areas, he will be wondering who to leave out in midfield. One can only hope that he will stick with Gareth Barry, who has looked a far more convincing international midfielder than either Gerrard or Lampard. However, Wright-Phillips can expect to be demoted, despite also not deserving to be dropped. McClaren would look even more stupid if he didn't start with Beckham after that trip to LA and even he's not that self-destructive.

The price of (1.72) for England should be backed against an Austrian side that are so bad, that their own fans have started a petition to prevent the European Championship hosts from competing in the tournament. Now losing to them really would be a PR disaster.

The petition link is below:

http://www.rueckgrat.cc/

Comments (1)

1. Bet Blogger | 14 November 2007

   I have a feeling the Austria game will be one of the worst international games as a spectacle in years. No England player will want to risk an injury ahead of the potentially huge game next week and they are that bad apparently their own fans don't want them to host Euro 08 - I can't wait for Friday. I'd disagree that Wembley will be half-full next week, though. No matter what's riding on it, there'll be at least 65,000 there.