[Red Moon]

SACKED STEVE MCCLAREN, THE WALLY WITH A BROLLY, TO GET £2.5 MILLION PAYOFF AFTER ENGLAND'S DISMAL EURO EXIT

Steve McClaren will receive a £2.5 million pay-off today after England failed to qualify for next year's European Championships.

It is understood he was fired soon after the dismal defeat by Croatia at Wembley which left millions of fans furious and dismayed that England would miss a major tournament.
The decision was rubber-stamped at 9am at a meeting of the Football Association's executive board at its Soho Square headquarters.

McClaren had refused to quit as head coach, forcing the FA to sack him. He will receive one year's salary in compensation for the termination of a contract that was due to run until 2010.

José Mourinho was this morning the 5/1 favourite to take over while Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is also a main contender.

The 2-3 defeat prompted angry supporters leaving Wembley to turn on McClaren, chanting "sack him, sack him."

But McClaren was adamant last night that he would not quit, saying after the game: "I'm not stepping down. I take responsibility. It was my job to get us qualified and I failed. I don't want to discuss my future at the moment. I am trying to get over that result."

McClaren had been in charge for nearly 18 months.

Last night's defeat was even more disappointing because England were given an unexpected chance to qualify after Israel beat Russia at the weekend.

It will be the first time England have missed a major championship since the 1994 World Cup under Graham Taylor.

Former England coach Glenn Hoddle said: "We are all disappointed and shocked. Does McClaren deserve to stay? Not really, no.

"The opposition we had in that group, we should have qualified quite easily and finished certainly second, if not top. The results have been poor. Israel gave us a chance and we have not taken it.

"Have we gone forward in the last 18 months? I am not so sure we have."

McClaren presided over a qualifying campaign littered with poor performances and three defeats against major rivals.

England finished third in their group, level on points with Israel, and behind Croatia and Russia.

Fans last night also hit out at the highly-paid star players. Matt Lowndes, 32, from Morden, said: "England showed themselves up for what they are, an average international team, and the manager showed himself to be a below-average coach.

"I don't care who takes over from McClaren as long as it's someone who shows some passion."

He said he was so disgusted at England's first-half performance that he walked out of Wembley at half-time, despite having paid £50 for his ticket.

Ian Etherington, 27, a broker from Bond Street, said: "It was a complete shambles. These players earn £150,000 a week but when it comes to the game they can't play together as a team."

The Centre for Economic and Business research estimated the cost of last night's defeat at £1billion to the economy.

Referring to next June's Euro 2008

Source: This is London