Steve McClaren woke up this morning to his side being branded 'the joke of European football' by the English media. After breakfast he learned that his 15-month reign as manager of England was over.

An emergency Football Association board meeting which began at 8:30 GMT brought to an end McClaren's tenure, with over two and a half years to run on his contract. A panel of ten, which included Manchester United chief executive David Gill, Premier League chairman Sir Dave Richards and Bolton chairman Phil Gartside came to the decision, which was first announced at a news conference at The FA's headquarters in Soho Square at 9:45.

Although FA chief executive Brian Barwick and FA chairman Geoff Thompson were present, they did not have a vote. However, in making the announcement, Thompson, a FIFA vice-president said:

"Like every England fan, we are all bitterly disappointed that we have failed to qualify for EURO 2008, and I know Steve feels that disappointment more than anyone. Of course we have no divine right to play in major tournaments, but it is quite right that qualification is expected.

"I would like to thank Steve for the work he has done since taking on the position last summer. His commitment to the job could not be questioned and I wish him the best for the future. The recruitment process for the new coach begins now and we will do everything to get the right man for the job."

McClaren's fate was effectively sealed on Wednesday night with England's 3-2 defeat to Croatia, a result which ended their hopes of qualifying for UEFA EURO 2008.

His decision to start with Scott Carson in goal ahead of Paul Robinson proved to be a gamble which did not pay off, when after just eight minutes the Aston Villa keeper fumbled Niko Kranjcar's drive into the net. As England looked bereft of ideas and imagination in the first half, David Beckham remained on the bench, a fact also bemoaned by press and public alike.

Useless, pathetic, insipid, spineless, desperate, rubbish - England are the joke of European football
The Sun newspaper

As McClaren digested his breakfast at his home in the north east, he would have found some of the newspapers' comments hard to stomach. The Sun led the way with: " Useless, pathetic, insipid, spineless, desperate, rubbish - England are the joke of European football," while The Daily Telegraph offered a more succinct "England have only themselves, and their hapless manager, to blame."

'A dream come true'
McClaren was named as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor on 4 May 2006, just six days before Middlesbrough lost 4-0 to Seville in the UEFA Cup final describing it as "a dream come true." Remaining as Eriksson's right-hand man during the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, which England exited at the quarter-final stage, he assumed the responsibility of the team on 1 August, with Greece the opponents for his first game in charge.

It was a fairy tale start. A brace from Peter Crouch, plus goals from Frank Lampard and captain John Terry, left McClaren ecstatic. "I've said it 100 times, I couldn't feel any more proud than I do now," he said. "The whole night really could not have gone any better. It was a great result and a great performance, but we have to make sure we carry it on in the same vein. We have set the standards and now we have to maintain them."

Victories over Andorra and Macedonia swiftly followed, but a goalless draw against FYR Macedonia at Old Trafford brought McClaren's honeymoon period to a swift end. "We know that that was not good enough," he said. "We have to play better than that. We are playing Macedonia at home and we expect to score in our home games. If you look at the game overall a draw was probably a fair result but we are very disappointed."

Four days later in Zagreb, things went from bad to worse for England. Eduardo Da Silva's header gave Croatia a deserved 61st minute lead. Eight minutes later, a goal was conceded which summed up the qualifying campaign - Gary Neville's backpass struck a divot and, as Paul Robinson went to clear, the ball rolled into the net.

England's winless streak stretched to five games with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, a 0-1 loss to Spain in friendly matches before a goalless draw with Israel. At this stage, the team's hopes of reaching EURO 2008 appeared to be distant, with even the coach admitting: "It is a concern, it is a worry. I would be more concerned if we weren't creating chances but at this level you have to score goals."

The squad responded to the manager's plea: winning five consecutive qualifiers against Andorra, Estonia (home and away), Israel and Russia by three goals to nil. England were back in the race. But they slipped to a 2-1 defeat on the plastic pitch in Moscow and suddenly qualification for the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland was out of their hands.

Israel's 2-1 victory over Russia on Saturday gave England the golden opportunity they desperately craved. A win or a draw over Croatia would have been enough to take them through, but a fall at the final hurdle has not only cost the team a place at EURO 2008, but also McClaren his job.