England-Russia: The End for Steve McClaren

Quite honestly, after Wayne Rooney's spectacular goal, England should have won their match against Russia.

With a 1-0 advantage, most teams—most good teams—go on to score a second goal, then think about defending.

Not England.

After Rooney scored, the team crumbled. England weren't good enough—failing to score, failing to defend, and simply failing themselves.

To be fair, Rooney was unlucky to have a penalty called against him—but it was pure stupidity that led to the whistle.

Rooney clumsily hauled down Zurianov, leading to a penalty decision from the referee.

After converting the try, Pavluchenko shocked England keeper Paul Robinson with an astonishing second strike four minutes later—a goal that gave Russia the win.

As it stands, England are all but out of Euro 2008. Who's to blame?

In a nutshell: Steve McClaren, with his strange-yet-poor decision-making.

After all, what manager would pair two similarly sized and styled players—Rooney and Owen—up front?

And what kind of manager would throw Stewart Downing on with only 10 minutes to go in the match?

We want to win games, not defend our right to lose them!

This has to be the moment that someone, somewhere, says enough is enough.

If the English Football Association fails to address the managerial situation, I wouldn't be surprised to see England fail to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The Russian circus bears have moved on, and so should McClaren.

On that note, bring on the clowns.