McClaren says sacking is saddest day of career

By Martyn Herman

ST ALBANS (Reuters) - Steve McClaren took full responsibility on Thursday for England's failure to qualify for next year's Euro 2008 finals, saying his sacking was the saddest day of his career.

The day after England were outclassed by Croatia in a 3-2 defeat at Wembley, however, a guarded McClaren said there were issues in English football that must be addressed if the national team was to achieve success.

"It's a huge disappointment," he told reporters at a news conference. "I feel I've left the fans down and the country down. I really thought we were ready but sadly it wasn't to be.

"I said 18 months ago when I took over it was the proudest day of my career, this is the saddest."

McClaren defended his players, although he said the criticism they are bound to receive in the coming days and weeks would be justified because ultimately they failed to qualify for a major finals for the first time since the 1994 World Cup.

"I believe we need to get behind the team and look at the overall conditions we are working in," McClaren said, when asked if the Premier League's abundance of foreign players was harming the English national side.

"We have to ask can we improve the situation to give the England team a better chance?

"There are a lot of issues out there that will be debated and discussed. The FA, the players and the staff want to improve but maybe you have to have a fall before you can bounce back. Maybe this is an opportunity for that."