It's a Rollover

Spare a thought for Manchester United’s Kieran Richardson, because when Steve McClaren announced his England squad for the friendly against Holland, he was the only player to be dropped after England’s disastrous defeat against Croatia in the European Championship game in Zagreb. Which is a bit odd, actually, because after the Croatia debacle, some observers had the distinct impression that the England manager was determined that heads would roll – and as things turned out, it was just one head.

Did the act of dispensing with David Beckham’s services entirely exhaust his courage? Has Stewart Downing’s alleged criticism of his boss at being omitted from the squad been forgiven? Or is Steve McClaren slowly and inexorably turning into Sven Goran Eriksson?