Almost exactly eight years ago, an unheralded country from the former Yugoslavia with the name of ‘M’ arrived to play the England national team at Southampton and secured a draw. Much hand-wringing followed at how the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) had managed to achieve a 2-2 draw and how England weren’t good enough at developing future talents. Eight years on, we’re still bemoaning the inadequacies of the English coaching system, the absence of a winter break, the overloading of the football schedule, the lack of English players worthy to be called up to the national squad and so on, after another unheralded country from the former Yugoslavia with the name of ‘M’ came to England and gained a draw, this time Montenegro.
Nothing has changed. David Seaman was made the scapegoat for the 2002 draw, that match being his last ever cap. And the England team went on as normal ultimately qualifying for Euro 2004, without solving any of the underlying problems because that would take strategic vision, resolve and butt-kicking. Five years after the Hampshire humiliation, FYROM came to England again, this time Manchester at Old Trafford, where the Field of Dreams lived up to its name with a most snooze-worthy fixture of 0-0. It was one part of a patchwork that led to England not making Euro 2008. The manager was sacrificed at the end of the campaign, yet still nothing was done to correct the serious issues.
Who knows what the effect of failing to beat Montenegro, a nation with half the population of Northern Ireland, on home soil will be. Richard Scudamore, chief executive of the Premier League, continues to play the traitor, selling out his country for money, saying a winter break would be a fine thing while ruling out all options to make it a reality. He’s also allowed clubs to be loaded with debt or run by unsuitable people. In the first few months of 2010, he cited Newcastle United and Leeds United as undergoing renaissance – tellingly, at the time, neither club were under his jurisdiction. The Football Association remains rudderless, electing not to elect a chairman or chief executive because… er... um… Not for any worthwhile reason. Honestly, it’s Swiftian. And all the while England get worse and worse and worse. The 1990 class was not as good as the 1966 team, the 1998 team that drew in Rome to finish top of their qualifying group was not as fine as 1990 and the team that was put out last night, although paid much more than any of their forebears is not even fit to lace up the bootstraps of those that went before. A spine of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand could not provide inspiration or relief.