THE FA BELATEDLY realised the folly of selecting McClaren, who was poor with tactics, and at handling egos and the press. -- PHOTO: AFP

The dear old Football Association gave its customary response. Silence.

Perhaps the ageing gentlemen are in shock. Wednesday's defeat at Wembley by Croatia was the most humiliating since 1953, when Hungary visited Wembley one foggy November day to dispel the myth of English superiority.

Worse, even before the FA could send representatives to Durban for tonight's World Cup draw, the seedings for the 2010 qualifying were announced.

England are not in Europe's top 10. This means the nation could face Italy, Spain, Germany, even Croatia, in the knockout group.

Unless the new head coach works some genius, unless the players are better than they appeared in the Euro 2008 failure, England could be heading down a long and costly road to isolation.

But away with negativity. Leave that to Steve McClaren.

We on The Sunday Times are bolder than that, and we aim to offer a few helpful home truths to the old country.

Choose right, this time

The next coaching appointment is crucial. Since the man has to want the job, and not merely the millions, Capello should be off to a flier.

He won the Italian championship consistently with AC Milan and Juventus, and the Spanish league twice with Real Madrid.

He can handle egos and shut out the press. Whisper it, he might even be deaf to the prattle of committeemen, sponsors and self-opinionated players.

By volunteering his services - on RAI television in Italy when the news of England's debacle hit the world - Capello did the opposite to Arsene Wenger, Martin O'Neill, Alan Curbishley, Sam Allardyce, Jose Mourinho, Uncle Tom Cobley and All who distanced themselves from consideration.

You might expect the FA's chief executive to pick up the phone and contact Capello. It hasn't happened yet.

Capello's English isn't the best. It is probably on a par with the few Korean words Guus Hiddink commanded when he coached South Korea or the Russian the Dutchman spoke when he manoeuvred Russia to Euro 2008 qualification at England's expense.

If the FA needs an interpreter, I can help.

Start the revolution

When the FA paid off McClaren and his aide Terry Venables (and possibly even the shrink Bill Beswick), it was for failure.

It did not need Einstein to see that Croatia, a country of four million people compared to England's 55 million, were so comfortable on the ball that they could think how to use it.

England's big-name players, on the other hand, struggled to control it, or thumped it in the air for the beanpole Peter Crouch.

Why is this? Maybe because kids in England start off too rich and comfortable.

While they are indoors mastering video games (to the point where one Lewis Hamilton becomes nearly a world champion converting virtual into reality), the Croats are out playing.

They learn to master the ball in infancy, so when they mature their time is spent on team work, on using the ball rather than chasing it.

The first part of the revolution would be to make teaching skills to children a valued, rewarded occupation. In England, it isn't.

The clamour for Alan Shearer to leapfrog the coaching ethos and be England's head coach before he has shown he can coach a pub side says it all.

Restructure the FA

Silly me. I know turkeys don't vote for Christmas, and I should know better than to suggest the FA, formed in the London's Freemasons Tavern in 1863, has any need of modernity.

However, those founders probably never foresaw the advent of professionalism, never mind the Premier League.

So we still have a committee of 12 - with amateur FA councillors from the regions seated beside powerful chief executives of foreign-owned Premier League giants. They are the bosses of Brian Barwick, the former head of BBC Sport who became the FA's chief executive.

Barwick is a decent, sincere lover of the game. But how can he be answerable to such diverse interests as councillors clinging to perks of FA Cup final tickets and clubs cutting one another's throats for global merchandising?

The FA is duty-bound to tend to the grassroots and run the England team, yet its committee includes men now essentially pursuing foreign riches.

I therefore admit restructuring the FA will not happen.

Consult the experts

Barwick intends to seek advice from Alex Ferguson, Wenger and others regarding the England coach. Alarmingly, he also says he will consult John Terry and Steven Gerrard.

Are they not part of the problem? Decent athletes and patriots they may be, but losers for England.

The most significant statement recently was Rafael Benitez, the coach at Liverpool, explaining why he took off Gerrard during the Merseyside derby. He said the occasion needed heads, not hearts.

Terry has told newspapers that he wants Jose Mourinho for England.

Control the media

Watching McClaren trying to please the press was pathetic. The media play no role on the pitch or in the dressing room, but Croatia were riled by them before Wednesday.

One Croat after another said that the arrogance of the English treating them as inferior players lucky to be on Wembley's muddy turf bolstered their determination to win.

The insufferable superiority complex of England needed taking down a peg or two, and it was.

Last resort

Send out for sperm donations, from say Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and any Brazilian - to breed a golden generation for England.

Failing that, clone one.

stsports@sph.com.sg