Top bosses want Venables to replace McClaren

The group of top bosses are so alarmed by the decline of the national team since McClaren succeeded Sven Goran Eriksson seven months ago that they have been plotting to pressurise the Football Association into taking urgent action.

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A Premier League source, unconnected with the ditch McClaren' faction, said: They have nothing personal against Steve. They just believe England will not qualify for Euro 2008 as long as he is in charge.'

The dissidents intend to lobby FA chief executive Brian Barwick and members of the international committee with the sole purpose of removing McClaren and persuading his assistant, Terry Venables, to take temporary charge of the England team for the duration of the European campaign.

The Premier League source said: The people involved were hoping to work quietly behind the scenes over the next fortnight. They regard Venables as an experienced hand and someone who can get the job done, although they don't see him as a long-term solution to our international problem.'

England's failure to fire the public imagination under McClaren reached new depths with the unconvincing performances in the back-toback qualifiers against Israel and lowly Andorra.

England followed their goalless draw in Tel Aviv with a 3-0 victory over Andorra achieved only through a second-half revival inspired by Steven Gerrard. Even so, that was not enough to halt the barrage of abuse aimed at McClaren and his players by some of the fans who had travelled to Barcelona.

The derision sent a tremor of alarm through boardrooms at a number of top Premier League clubs. While the Premiership's power brokers have been preening themselves over the £2.7 billion bonanza coming their way through their recently signed TV deal, they are nonetheless concerned that the poor image of the national side will reflect badly on a league that prides itself as the best — and certainly the most lucrative — in the world.

Reports, so far unsubstantiated, that at least two England players became so disenchanted with the atmosphere surrounding the national team following the draw in Israel that they asked their clubs to concoct excuses for them to return home early have done nothing to help McClaren's cause.

The Premier League source said: "The group behind these moves are aware of the intense media criticism of McClaren, which they say is creating an atmosphere in which it may be impossible for him to motivate his players to give 100 per cent on the field.

"They feel that it is vital to the future of the domestic game that England reach the European Championship finals. They are worried that failing to do so could be a disaster with repercussions at club level when so much money is tied up in television."

Disenchantment with McClaren, currently on a family holiday in the United States, is not the only issue of concern. The source added: "These people are not happy with Brian Barwick, especially with the messy way he handled the appointment of the England coach last year. They want a wholesale restructuring of the FA."