Not the end, just the beginning...

If you were in any doubt, it seems there is no justice in this world. On the one hand you have Scotland, a team who have proven to be formidable opposition to the likes of France, Italy and Ukraine and on the other you have England, a team that have regularly failed to convince its supporters that it can beat anyone, regardless of stature.

For Scotland, sadly, qualification to Euro 2008 is now no longer possible. The 2-1 defeat to Italy on Saturday was enough to give their opponents enough points to edge out the Scots, and yet in that game, as with so many others during this competition, the Scottish players have shown enough creativity, fighting spirit and a will to win to almost earn a place in the Finals on merit alone.

For England, however, things no longer look quite as gloomy thanks to Israel's 2-1 win over Russia. Where previously the nation braced itself for the imminent elimination that a win for the Russians would have brought, now, rather surprisingly, a chance to qualify has reappeared. All England need to do is secure at the very least a draw at home to Croatia on Wednesday night and they can book their flight to Austria and Switzerland next year.

Frankly, the whole situation leaves me feeling a bit frustrated. If England had played as well as Scotland have done and were denied qualification to the Finals, I'd be feeling pretty bereft right now, and yet here I am supporting an England team lacking in sufficient levels of skill and desire that could well be taking their place.

My only hope is that McLaren's men call on their deepest reserves to play in the manner which we all want to see - that of a team which is strong in ability and ambition, one that wants to show the world that it can be the best in Europe.

Aside from the commiserations I pass onto the Scotland team and all its supporters, I have a message of hope for you. This Sunday, FIFA makes its Preliminary Round Draw for the 2010 World Cup and it's there that Scotland will find out which opponents they'll face as they attempt to qualify for the Finals in three years time. Regardless of who ends up in their group, I feel that Alex McLeish can get his team through to the 2010 World Cup, as long as he can continue the momentum that has carried his team thus far over the last couple of years.

I've no doubt that what we saw on Saturday wasn't the end of a sorry tale, merely the end of the beginning. If Scotland's trend of gradual improvement continues as it has every chance of doing, the end of the story will be a glorious one, not the rain-soaked affair we witnessed last weekend.

"Mr. Robinson - you're trying to excuse me..."

Consider this: England manager Steve McLaren is about to announce his starting line-ups for the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers against Estonia and Russia, and if yesterday's edition of The Guardian is anything to go by, he's set to stick with Paul Robinson in goal.

So what's your first reaction to hearing that? "Has McLaren gone crazy?" "Is he out of his mind?"

I must be honest, mine was a somewhat watered-down version of those comments but when you read about the reasoning behind the decision, it gives you cause to think.

McLaren realises that all players tend to go through a bad patch at some time or another. Strikers stop scoring goals and goalkeepers start making mistakes. It's just something that happens. Yet in order to restore the confidence in a player like Robinson and get him back to his former self, McLaren feels it's important to show understanding and faith in times of crisis. As a result, McLaren intends to stand by his man for the two upcoming qualifiers despite the murmurs of dissatisfaction coming from certain quarters.

Putting yourself in Robinson's shoes for a moment, you can imagine how heartening it must be to know that your manager hasn't just thrown you on the scrapheap after making a few mistakes in recent games. Your determination to do well (or at least better) would swell and any thoughts of diminishing capability would be cast aside going into the crucial games England are about to play.

Well done, then, Mr. McLaren. You've decided to get the best out of your goalkeeper by sticking with him rather than dropping him.

Is this the right thing to do, though? Putting your England fan's hat back on again (you can kick off Robinson's shoes at this point), wouldn't you rather see the Spurs keeper work through his current inconsistent spell at Spurs, or at best on the England training field rather than in an important qualifying match?

Another mistake like the one Robinson made in the game against Croatia last year could seriously jeopardise England's chances of making it to Austria and Switzerland in 2008. So is McLaren taking a big risk picking Paul Robinson for the starting XI on Saturday and next Wednesday and if he opted for an alternative goalkeeper, would they be any better? What are the alternatives?

Israel v England: Comment

Unlike many people, I was rather inspired by the England performance I saw on Saturday night. It was refreshing, free-flowing and attacking football which understandably gave our opponents something of a problem to deal with from start to finish.

Sadly the game I was watching was a repeat of England's 1-1 draw with Switzerland in Euro 96. I'd already suffered the hour-and-a-half of tedium that was England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel earlier in the evening, but as luck would have it something altogether more entertaining came along shortly afterwards on ESPN Classic to lift my spirits.

The difference between the way England played in the two games was instantly noticeable. During the 0-0 draw in Tel Aviv, Steve McLaren's men appeared to spend most of the time playing the ball from side to side, left to right, not really knowing what to do with it next.

At Wembley during the opening game of Euro 96, Terry Venables men had only one thing in mind when they were in possession of the ball - forward movement. It really was a joy to watch, and although they didn't succeed with every attack, the sheer fact that they were constantly and purposefully driving at the Swiss was inspiration enough.

Unfortunately the current England side have plunged into some kind of mental fog. Barely anyone seems to know how to penetrate the opposition's defence, and anyone who is lucid enough to detect the problem hasn't the physical skill to do anything about it.

Work your way through Venables' squad list eleven years ago and skill was rife throughout. In front of David Seaman in goal was the gritty, no-nonsense Stuart Pearce and Tony Adams in defence. The midfield had the sublime mixture Paul Ince's aggression, the gifted Paul Gascoigne and the talented David Platt and Darren Anderton. Up front, who could ask for more than Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham - two strikers you could practically bet your house on scoring if given half a chance.

If the ball ever dared reach the front men on Saturday, who did England have to instil hope of an imminent goal? Andy Johnson - replaced by Jermaine Defoe, neither of which have been prolific of late - and Wayne Rooney whose form has been, well... let's just say 'inconsistent' in recent times.

But we all know that the current side does have some talented individuals in it. One only needs mention Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand to be reminded of that. So where does all the underachievement stem from - the way the players are playing, or the instructions the players are trying to interpret?

The feedback coming from one or two of the players is that it's their own incapability which is letting the side down, not the manager's, but what if that was caused by a distinct lack of confidence in him? That surely makes McLaren just as accountable to England's current demise?

If that were true, the answer would naturally be to replace him with someone else, but I for one get the impression that the FA want to get their money's worth out of McLaren before showing him the door, even if it does mean a failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

But hey - look on the bright side: if McLaren does get the sack, the FA might promote his right-hand man to take over the job. I've heard he's got a bit of experience where this kind of thing's concerned...