Guru and spin doctor hinder McClaren's position..

So four days after the defeat in Croatia, McClaren's assistant Terry Venables talks to the News of The World and hints that the England manager needs to be more single minded and not to listen to those in the media (McClaren could start by ignoring the Venables column). This from his own assistant. Even if Venables has a point, wouldn't it have been better to have conveyed this message to his boss in private, rather than to the rest of the nation via the turgid NOTW?

IT's not been a good few days for McClaren, losing to Croatia and drawing with Macedonia was bad enough, then on Friday, Max Clifford (media spin doctor) announced he was no longer assisting McClaren because the FA were doing the job of handling the media for the England manager. Clifford also hinted that McClaren was too easily led and influenced by others saying "......he (McClaren) is not making his own mind up any more, people are making up his mind for him".

Clifford clearly has issues with the FA and anyone can understand his position, because as he rightly points out, previous England managers have suffered badly at the hands of the British press.

Personally, I think Venables comments have been very unhelpful and McClaren could have done without Clifford's suggestion that his mind is being made up by others.

Results will dictate McClaren's length of term in office, to achieve that he will need real assistance. Ill advised soundbytes given to the many Witchfinder Generals among Her Majesty's gentlemen of the press, don't help the situation, it's like throwing petrol onto the fire instead of cold water.

Never short of a target when there's a media witch-hunt.