According to reports, England manager Steve McClaren has been told by the Football Association that he has been fired.
The FA will announce that McClaren has been sacked 18 months into a four-year contract, following the 3-2 defeat to Croatia that ended England’s hopes of reaching Euro 2008.
The FA has been holding an emergency board meeting since at its Soho headquarters in London, with the international committee expected to give its unanimous backing to sack the former Middlesbrough manager.
McClaren, 46, admitted before the Croatia match that he would “take responsibility” if England failed to reach the finals in Austria and Switzerland, although in the wake of the defeat to Croatia he refused to resign.
“No, I’m not stepping down,” McClaren said after the game. “Ultimately I take responsibility and I accept that. It is my job to get us qualified and I failed to do that.
“I’m not going to discuss the future, it’s too near the time after the huge disappointment,” McClaren told a packed press conference. “We’ve let down the nation and we will have to reflect on it.”
The FA has plenty of time to search for a replacement with the next scheduled fixture a friendly in France at the end of March.
