Pride comes before a fall. Just asked Guus Hiddink who had spent a month mocking Steve McClaren before handing him qualification for the Euros on a plate even Steve won’t be able to drop. Much better to make England look rubbish by beating them 2-0 in the Croatia and then saying McClaren is the greatest manager ever to pick-up a piece of chalk. Makes you look noble and also makes you look like you outclassed a manager of substance, not just the sort of person who plays 3-5-2 away from home when the players have never played before. Credit to Slaven Bilic then, who came out with the following gems prior to the England v Croatia rematch on Wednesday:
“I think he should (stay) because he is definitely a good manager. The players are really behind him. They love him, they trust him and they feel very motivated.
“I have to feel sorry for him a bit because he is always without four or five important players because of injury.
“To make a good team as a club manager you need a couple of years and as an international manager you need more time.”
That’s what we’ve been saying for weeks Slaven, he’s a great manager who will definitely guide us all the way to Euro glory. Or something like that.
Anyone coming round to Slaven’s viewpoint after the weekend’s results?