THE clamour for Steve McClaren's head in the wake of England's failure to beat Israel is as deafening as it is hysterical.

But let's put that performance in Tel Aviv into perspective.

The Israelis were superbly disciplined and marshalled at the back by Bolton's own Tal Ben Haim, who succeeded in making Wayne Rooney look anonymous. And they put 11 men behind the ball for the vast majority of the game.

Better sides than England have struggled to break down teams hell-bent on avoiding defeat.

I had the advantage of watching the game from the relative neutrality of the Italian capital Rome, and I have to admit at being astonished by the ciriticism the performance received in the Sunday papers I read on my flight home.

England created enough chances to have won at least 3-0 and the fact they failed to score is down to the players - not Steve McClaren.

Even as a journalist I am uncomfortable with the idea that a group of national tabloid writers and editors can precipitate the sacking of a manager with smart-Alec headlines when there are numerous games still to play in the qualifying campaign.

The right time to sack McClaren would be if England fail to qualify for the European Championships - not as a knee-jerk reaction to a disappointing result against an albeit inferior side.

My mind goes back to what Steven Gerrard said post Germany 2006 - maybe we're not as good as we think we are.