Euro 2008 Qualifying Group E:Owen Hargreaves said that Steve McClaren had found the right message at half-time against Andorra. "What did he do?" scoffed one England follower, "promise to resign if they won?"

Disillusionment with the manager must be a graver concern for the English Football Association than the team's performance before the interval on Wednesday or their position in Group E.

While results could improve they might not suffice to eradicate an animosity unique in the history of the international side. Many of McClaren's predecessors have been condemned but there is something new about the crowd's implacable refusal to cheer up under any circumstances. In Barcelona it was a matter of honour to resist the blandishments of the three goals eventually laid before them.

The FA will blame the media for this. While it would be dishonest not to confess there is a competitive streak in the dreaming up of snappy insults, newspapers rarely have impact unless they chime with public opinion. However, the antagonism developed is so ugly that McClaren must get misty-eyed about a time when all he had to contend with was a Middlesbrough supporter marching towards the dug-out at the Riverside to chuck a season ticket at him. His credentials to be England manager, never compelling, are now the subject of total disdain. McClaren had some good moments at Middlesbrough and there were many admirers of his coaching but there was nothing to make him a compelling candidate for the post he now holds with a slackening grip.

Any statement he makes is greeted with an instant rebuttal. McClaren wished to highlight the "guts" of England in persevering on Wednesday but, if he had cultivated true toughness, it would have been shown with a blazing opening to drag appreciation out of the spectators. The manager's influence is not being felt and Wayne Rooney, in particular, was utterly beyond reach.

No one on the England staff could stop him from continuing a feud with Oscar Sonejee, although they had the interval in which to address it. Rooney was not to be diverted from his course and picked up the yellow card that rules him out of the game in Estonia. Alex Ferguson would presumably have got his attention or withdrawn him earlier.

Evidence piles up of McClaren's limitations. They could be exposed once more in Tallinn because Estonia, despite mimicking Andorra by losing every Euro 2008 qualifier so far, differ in fielding a fully professional team with the stamina to maintain resistance at home.

Were England to falter there, the FA could decide that the summer would give them enough of a pause to sack McClaren and make other arrangements, even if that simply entailed naming someone like Trevor Brooking as interim manager. It is still more likely that the ruling body will hold its breath and pray that Wembley, where four of the closing five games are to be played, can work some magic.

The dilemma does not stop there. With qualification achieved, McClaren would have fulfilled his basic assignment and ensured that the FA's income is not slashed by tens of millions, but the international committee's duties do not stop at finance. Its members, at their forthcoming meeting, will have to begin debating McClaren's future anyway.

There was a trace of encouragement for McClaren on Wednesday. It was "only Andorra" but Steven Gerrard relished being reinstated in central midfield. Both of his goals were admirable and the second, built on a pair of one-twos with Stewart Downing and Jermain Defoe, was polished considering the cold and windy conditions.

England have some merits but there is barely anyone who thinks that McClaren's management is among them.

Guardian Service