WATFORD, England (AP) — Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen say they want Steve McClaren to stay on as England coach even if the team fails to qualify for the European Championship.
England will almost certainly miss out on next year’s tournament if rival Russia wins at Israel on Saturday. The Russians would then be a point ahead with an easy game against Andorra to follow on Wednesday, when England must beat group leader Croatia.
There is strong speculation that McClaren will be fired if England fails to qualify but Gerrard and Owen, two of the team’s most influential players, said Wednesday they want him to keep his job.
"I’m certainly backing the manager," said Gerrard, who will captain the team in Friday’s friendly against Euro 2008 co-host Austria.
"I’ve got a lot of faith in him, I’ve enjoyed working with him and, speaking to the other players, I’m sure they feel the same. There is no point changing managers every five months or every year. You need continuity and I feel we are moving in the right direction."
Owen told reporters that McClaren has the support of all the players.
"I think every player you would ask would back the manager, that is a natural thing to do," the Newcastle striker said. "There has been a lot of support for him.
"He’s popular among players and everyone knows he’s a very good coach. There’s no hiding that we should be qualified out of this group. We let slip too many points early on and that’s where we have struggled in this group.".
Although McClaren only took over as head coach from Sven-Goran Eriksson after last year’s World Cup, Owen points out that he was the Swede’s assistant for five years.
"He has been with us for a while and we think he is the right man for the job," Owen said
Both players said England’s recent results — including five 3-0 victories — show there has been a big improvement, the only negative being a 2-1 loss to Russia in a Group E game which leaves the team in danger.
Owen said the team was hoping that Israel would beat Russia in Tel Aviv.
"It’s a tough place to win," he said. "Israel have a cracking home record but we are all guessing how it will go.
"But we have to get our own house in order so that we are mentally and physically right (for the game against Croatia) if there is to be a (Russian) slip up. It would be unprofessional if we were unprepared for Wednesday in terms of having to get the three points.
"We all have too wait for Saturday but, from a players point of view, we can’t just sit on our backsides waiting for something to happen. What will be, will be, and we have got to prepare."
England goes into Friday’s game in Vienna without injured Manchester United pair Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves, the Calgary-born midfielder.
Rooney has already been ruled out of Wednesday’s group game against Croatia because of an ankle injury he picked up on Friday in training while Hargreaves has been sent back to Manchester for treatment for tendinitis.