Steve McClaren And The England Football Team
Ipsos's football fan poll for The Sun shows that England supporters questioned before the Croatia match remained favourable to Steve McClaren despite the continuing scrutiny over his record as England coach.
Before the weekend, Ipsos found that fans were split over whether McClaren should be sacked if England did not qualify for the 2008 Euro tournament, with slightly more saying he should not be sacked (45%) than saying that he should be (42%).
Following the weekend's results, when the England team's fate was briefly back in their hands, fans were more supportive of McClaren (57% saying that he should carry on as coach if England qualify).
If McClaren does now go, Jose Mourinho is the fans choice to replace him (17%), whilst one in ten nominated either Sam Allardyce (10%), Alex Ferguson (9%) or Martin O'Neill (9%).
Fans blame players not being good enough (19%), bad tactics (13%), the manager (13%) and the amount of foreign players in the premiership (13%) as the main reasons for England struggling to qualify.
Topline Results
19th November Poll
- On 19 November, Ipsos interviewed 258 England national team football fans (new sample) by telephone from a representative sample of 375 adults in Great Britain aged 18+.
- Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
- Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't know" categories, or multiple answers.
- An asterisk (*) denotes any value of less than half a per cent.
Q1 If England qualify for the Euro 2008 Finals on Wednesday night, should Steve McClaren be allowed to carry on as manager, or not?
Base: 258 England national team football fans
| % | |
|---|---|
| Yes (carry on) | 57 |
| No (not carry on) | 25 |
| Don't know | 18 |
13-14 November Poll
- Ipsos interviewed 1,001 England national team football fans from a representative sample of 1,405 adults in Great Britain aged 18+.
- Interviews were conducted by telephone on 13-14 November 2007.
- Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.
- Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't know" categories, or multiple answers.
- An asterisk (*) denotes any value of less than half a per cent.
Q1 If England fail to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals, should the Football Association sack the England manager Steve McClaren, or not?
Base: 1,001 England national team football fans
| % | |
|---|---|
| Sack him | 42 |
| Not sack him | 45 |
| Other | 1 |
| Don't know | 12 |
Q2 If Steve McClaren were to be sacked or resign this season, ideally who would you like to see replace him as England manager, assuming your choice would agree to take the job?
Base: 1,001 England national team football fans
| % | |
|---|---|
| Jose Mourinho | 17 |
| Sam Allardyce | 10 |
| Martin O'Neill | 9 |
| Alex Ferguson | 9 |
| Terry Venables | 4 |
| Arsene Wenger | 4 |
| Harry Redknapp | 3 |
| Martin Jol | 2 |
| Stuart Pearce | 1 |
| Sven-Goran Eriksson | 1 |
| Any English manager | 1 |
| Guus Hiddink | 1 |
| Alan Curbishley | 1 |
| Mark Hughes | 1 |
| Marcello Lippi | * |
| Kevin Keegan | * |
| Luis Philippe Scolari | * |
| Steve Coppell | * |
| Paul Jewell | * |
| Peter Taylor | * |
| David Beckham | * |
| Roy Keane | * |
| Bobby Robson | * |
| Other | 4 |
| Don't know | 31 |
Q3 If Steve McClaren is sacked, should Brian Barwick, the Chief Executive of the Football Association, who stated Steve McClaren was his 'Number One' choice, also lose his job, or not?
Base: 1,001 England national team football fans
| % | |
|---|---|
| Should lose his job | 45 |
| Should not lose his job | 41 |
| Other | * |
| Don't know | 13 |
Q4 Why do you think England have struggled to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals?
Base: 1,001 England national team football fans
| % | |
|---|---|
| Players are not good enough | 19 |
| Too many foreign international players in the premier league / pool of potential England players too small | 13 |
| Manager not good enough / wrong manager | 13 |
| Bad tactics | 13 |
| Picked wrong players (generally) | 12 |
| Bad coaching | 12 |
| Players injured / suspended | 9 |
| Not enough time for players to train together | 6 |
| Not enough passion / spirit / motivation | 4 |
| Bad luck | 3 |
| Players playing out of position | 3 |
| Players don't play as a team / no team spirit | 3 |
| Players are paid too much money | 3 |
| Failing to use David Beckham enough | 2 |
| Timing of matches within the football season/match schedules | 1 |
| Lack of commitment | 1 |
| Should not have picked Lampard | * |
| Complacency | * |
| Bad player selection | * |
| Other | 3 |
| None of these | 1 |
| Don't know | 10 |
