McClaren had a face like thunder as the final whistle blew as the derision cascaded down from Wembley stands.

He scurried down the tunnel, a condemned man surely on his final walk in the corridors of international football.

His England side had just been defeated 3-2 by Croatia.

And not even in his most optimistic sound bite could the hapless England manager argue that his side deserved a passage to Euro 2008.

On a night when the emotion and drama lashed the new Wembley every bit as much as the inclement weather England were out-thought, out-manoeuvred, out-played, out-classed. Out of their depth.

There are only two things wrong with McClaren's England. They can't defend and they can't attack.

Harsh? Not this night. Not this qualifying campaign.

And what did McClaren do as his team whimpered? For the most part he cowered under his umbrella, protecting the coiffured locks which are so important to him while shellshocked by the deeds developing all around.

Either that, or he scribbled notes into a watery notebook. One can only presume his resignation letter was among them.

Which is not meant to kick a man when he is down.

But the truth is that if McClaren's reign began in a slough of indifference, tainted as he was with the regime of Sven-Goran Eriksson, it ended in humiliation.

Let us recap. On the way he defied football logic by jettisoning David Beckham when he was playing for arguably the premier side in Europe in Real Madrid and then indulged him once more when he was half-fit after a period of inactivity in 'La-la land'.

So much of McClaren's work never added up. Such as the nonsensical deployment of assistant Terry Venables' preferred formation in Zagreb.

Such as the caution in Tel Aviv when Israel looked there for the taking.

Such as the tactical torpor in Moscow when McClaren failed to respond to swift formation changes by the opposition.

And how about the decision that capped it all? Leaving out goalkeeper Paul Robinson half a dozen matches after everyone else knew his nerves were shot to bits and bringing in a rookie in Scott Carson who played, you've guessed it, like a rookie dazzled by the biggest occasion of his fledgling career.

In isolation those decisions were worrying. Together they point to a man promoted beyond his ability.

It is easy to empathise with the injuries and which team would not miss the combined calibre of Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

McClaren would draw more sympathy, however, if his reign had not been built on spin and image and press conference sound bites.

Neither should we forget that his contract, which stretches to 2010, fills his bank account to the tune of £2.5m each year.

For that, the least the nation could expect was that the team he nurtured actually made it to the major competitions.

Instead, McClaren's England haemorrhaged 13 points from their 12 qualifying matches and that in a group described as easy by Eriksson.

That is why the buck stops with the manager.

But if McClaren was unmasked by the rigours of qualifying then what of the players?

If ever the myth of the so-called golden generation was dismantled then it was in the last 15 months. And against Croatia it simply imploded.

Yes, it was all played out on a dreadful pitch which made a mockery of the £760m spent on this stadium.

Almost before the first whistle went the turf resembled the hippo enclosure at London Zoo. A nightmare for goalkeepers.

Yet hardly an excuse for the schoolboy error committed by Carson when he failed to get his body behind a speculative effort from Niko Kranjcar and England were one down after just eight minutes.

Oh dear. In its own way it was just as bad as Robinson's air shot back in Zagreb which began the rot.

The second six minutes later unlatched England's defence, admittedly the second-string version comprising Joleon Lescott and Sol Campbell, with such ease and precision that it was truly embarrassing, Ivica Olic eventually walking the ball into the net past a hapless Carson.

What a night to play in your first competitive international.

If 22-year-old Carson was exposed by his nerves and his lack of experience then at least he had those for mitigation. So many of England's players had no such excuse.

Players such as Frank Lampard, who was virtually anonymous. Others such as Joleon Lescott and Wayne Bridge who looked out of their depth.

Few moments in British sport have matched that first half for sheer desperate incompetence.

So much so that the irony was inescapable when at half-time the tannoy announcer introduced the Great Britain Blind football parading around the Wembley touchline. You really could not make it up.

It was so bad that England were jeered on to the pitch in the second-half. Potential redemption arrived, however, with Josip Simunic's pull on Jermain Defoe, Lampard clipping home the penalty kick.

The stands scented hope. The fans roared. Carson produced a wonderful reflex save from Olic.

And when Beckham, introduced at half-time, supplied the pinpoint cross which Peter Crouch chested down brilliantly and poked home ruthlessly with his right foot they also were back in control of their own destiny.

Natural justice was restored, however, with a left-foot shot from Mladen Petric which was magnificent enough to win any match.

And with it went all that optimism and all those declarations of belief. All those "It's time to deliver" sound bites rang so hollow.

England had got what they deserved. And so, you suspect, will McClaren.

England's 3-2 defeat at Wembley on Wednessday night, coupled with Russia's win over Andorra, meant Steve McClaren's side lost the battle to emerge from Euro 2008 qualifying Group E.

ENGLAND 0 MACEDONIA 0 - OCTOBER 7, 2006

An easy win over Andorra and a nervy victory in Skopje had got the English off to a solid start - but these two crucial dropped points were the start of a horrible run of form. McClaren, honeymoon now over, saw his team fail to overrun the Balkan nation as expected in front of a packed Old Trafford, with Steven Gerrard's strike against the bar the closest they came.

CROATIA 2 ENGLAND 0 - OCTOBER 11, 2006

Things went from bad to worse in Zagreb four days later as Eduardo da Silva's header and Gary Neville's comical own goal, following Paul Robinson's infamous air kick, condemned woeful England to a first defeat in the group. For the first time McClaren's position came under serious scrutiny after he employed an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation which failed in just about every conceivable way.

ISRAEL 0 ENGLAND 0 - MARCH 24, 2007

The pressure built after another below-par showing in Tel Aviv. Jamie Carragher headed against the bar but McClaren's men failed to dominate as expected. The travelling fans turned on the England boss and his team as hopes of qualification faded.

ANDORRA 0 ENGLAND 3 - MARCH 28, 2007

Played out in a poisonous atmosphere at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, England failed to find the net in a dreadful first half. Gerrard took control and scored a brace after the break, with debutant David Nugent adding a late third - but it felt like a hollow victory at the final whistle.

RUSSIA 2 ENGLAND 1 - OCTOBER 17, 2007

After four further 3-0 wins, the Three Lions needed just a point to keep themselves in pole position for qualification and were seemingly cruising after Rooney's classy volley put them ahead. But Gerrard missed a sitter before substitute Roman Pavluchenko hit two - the second following a Robinson blunder - to leave England deep in the mire.

ENGLAND 2 CROATIA 3 - NOVEMBER 21, 2007

After Israel's win over Russia had put qualification back in England's hands, Niko Kranjcar's speculative long-range effort slipped through Scott Carson's hands before Ivica Olic slipped the offside trap to make it 2-0 within 15 minutes. Frank Lampard's penalty and Peter Crouch's brilliant finish levelled the match after the break, but Mladen Petric hit a long-range winner to break England's hearts.