The Importance of having an English Coach

depends on the coach i reckon.

If its an English coach like Taylor, Keegan or McLaren, then take anyone else who is borderline competent to do the job, but if its a coach that understands the players and can motivate them like Robson or Venables then they probably understand the players more, and might get better performances.

The fA cannot be trusted to make a decent appointment though, McLaren was a truly appalling selection (regardless of the success he has achieved since leaving the position)

I'm not sure that statistics bear out your assumptions;  the best two England coaches in terms of % competitive games won have been Capello and Eriksson

competitive games including all those qualifiers against East European farmers.

Middlesbrough
At the end of the 2000–01 season McClaren began looking for a managerial job, having decided his chances of succeeding Ferguson at Old Trafford were slim.[14] With a positive reputation and closely linked with three Premier League vacancies, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson won the race to appoint him after McClaren turned down Southampton and West Ham United.[18] In his first season, Middlesbrough reached the FA Cup semi-final, knocking out his previous employers Manchester United en route,[19] but lost 0–1 to Arsenal.[20] They finished 12th in the league, a small improvement on the previous season's 14th-place finish. The following season bought another modest improvement, this time finishing eleventh.


The 2004 Football League Cup Final between Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers at the Millennium Stadium.In the 2003–04 season, McClaren guided Boro to victory in the League Cup with a 2–1 win over Bolton Wanderers in the final.[21] This was the club's first ever major honour and also guaranteed them qualification for a European competition for the first time in their 128-year history.[22] In the following close season, McClaren was able to attract proven players Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Michael Reiziger and Mark Viduka to the Riverside Stadium.[23] The signings paid dividends as the club reached the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup, having beaten more experienced sides such as S.S. Lazio,[24] before being eliminated by Sporting Clube de Portugal.[25] The club finished in seventh position in the Premier League—their best finish since 1975—ensuring qualification for the UEFA Cup for a second successive season.[26]

The 2005–06 season proved to be the most eventful of McClaren's tenure at Middlesbrough.[27] The club endured mediocre league form, humiliatingly losing at home to local rivals Sunderland[27] (who went on to be relegated with a then record low points total) and suffering a 0–7 thrashing at Arsenal, putting the club in relegation form.[28] During a 0–4 defeat at home to Aston Villa, a Middlesbrough fan ran onto the pitch and threw his season ticket at McClaren signifying his disgust at the club's performances.[28] Boro eventually finished 14th but enjoyed greater success in the cup competitions, reaching the latter stages of both the FA and UEFA Cups.[29] They lost 0–1 to West Ham United in the FA Cup semi-finals.[27] In the UEFA Cup, Middlesbrough were losing on aggregate in the second legs of both the quarter and semi-final ties against FC Basel and FC Steaua Bucureşti respectively. After McClaren substituted defenders with attackers Boro produced two spectacular four goal comebacks in both ties to reach the final.[26][30] In the final, however, Middlesbrough were outclassed by Sevilla and lost 0–4.

McClaren's five year tenure on Teesside saw him establish himself as Middlesbrough's most successful manager as he made the often difficult transition from coach to manager.[30] He was also the most successful English manager of the early 21st century; he was the first Englishman to win a major honour since 1996 and first to reach the UEFA Cup final since 1984.

Twente
In May 2008, McClaren was linked with a return to football as manager of the Dutch side Twente.[60] He was in the crowd for a match against Ajax on 18 May 2008, seeing Twente qualify for the UEFA Champions League.[61] In response to speculation, a Twente spokesman stated the club had no intention of hiring McClaren in an interview with Sky Sports on 19 May 2008.[62] However, on 30 May 2008, it was reported McClaren had held talks with Twente Chairman Joop Munsterman and had toured the club, despite question marks from some Twente fans to his possible appointment.[60][63] When he was initially offered the Twente managerial job, McClaren turned it down due to private issues and on 7 June 2008 he expressed an interest in the vacant managerial role at Blackburn Rovers.[64][65] However, on 20 June 2008 he was confirmed as the new manager of Twente.

McClaren started the 2008–09 season well, mainly by adding the ingredient of patience to a side that was used to combine swiftly. The team secured second place in the Dutch league with one match to go, reached the final of the Dutch cup and on top of that, the club survived group stages in the UEFA Cup, having beaten the Spanish side of Racing Santander 1–0 and Germany's Schalke 04, managed by McClaren's predecessor at Twente Fred Rutten, 2–1. It was the first time in 30 years that the club qualified for matches after winter in European football. On 17 May he managed Twente in the Dutch Cup final where they lost 5–4 on penalties after a 2–2 draw against SC Heerenveen.[66] In 2009, McClaren gave Twente a second good start to a season, even taking the team to the top of the league during October. Twente stayed top throughout November and December. In October 2009, McClaren signed a one-year contract extension with Twente.[67] Twente ended the season in second place in the league behind winners AZ Alkmaar.

In his second season at FC Twente, there were question-marks over how newcomers Bryan Ruiz and Miroslav Stoch would be able to replace the departed Eljero Elia and Marko Arnautović, who had been at the core of Twente's second place finish in the league the preceding year. However, McClaren ensured the Enschede team quite impressive results, with the Dutch side reaching the first knockout round of the UEFA Europa League, where they were defeated by SV Werder Bremen. FC Twente, who had never won a Eredivisie title in its history, also continued to top the league against the likes of renowned competitors PSV and Ajax, and seriously emerged as title favourites throughout the season. On the 2nd of May 2010, FC Twente were crowned champions for the first time in their history after a 2–0 win away to NAC Breda, making McClaren the first English manager to win a major European League title since Bobby Robson with F. C. Porto in 1996 (Robson had also won the Dutch title with PSV Eindhoven in 1991 and 1992).[68] Robson had in fact been a major influence in McClaren's decision to go to Holland. According to McClaren, "The relationship I had with Bobby was very special. He was a good friend and was of big influence on my decision to join FC Twente. I'd like to think that he'll be watching from a cloud up above and wishes us the best as we play the last game in the league against NAC".[69] Twente won 16 of 17 home matches in the Eredivisie league that season and lost just two away. Twente withstood immense pressure from Martin Jol's Ajax (who won their last 14 games in a row and had a goal difference of +86, more than double Twente's +40) during the second half of the season and trumped the Amsterdam side by one point difference on the last day of the league to claim the title.[70][71] Upon winning the championship, McClaren stated "Winning the Carling Cup with Middlesbrough was special but this is pretty much right up at the top of anything I've ever done. To win a championship in a foreign country with foreign coaches, I think it's made me stronger."[72] At the end of the season, McClaren was awarded the Rinus Michels Award for Dutch manager of the season.[73] On winning the Eredivisie, McClaren became the first Englishman to manage a team to a domestic league title since Howard Wilkinson in 1992.

There's a common theme to England's alleged underperformance and it aint the manager imho

It is of no use making the comparison with success at club level,simply because you are working with players of different nationalities,it works for some ,but not for others.Scholari is agood example,poor at Chelsea,but successful at National level.
  The players ,rightly or wrongly,need to be able to identify with their coach,be open,talk man to man,have their thoughts and problems listened to.
How can that work with Capello.
Compare England with a low grade handicapper,nothing in hand at the weights,everything has to fall right on the day in order to win.
We are not top class,but in order to get the best out of the team,the formation has to be spot on,the team selection has to be spot on,the motivation has to be there to start with,faith in your coach that when you go out on the field you are feeling "we can do it".

There were many faults and Capello did not make the most of the players he had available to him.Obviously we are well behind some of the others,but we all know that we still could have performed a lot better.

It's always the manager's fault when England allegedly underperform.  Luck in tournaments plays a huge part as it did for Bobby Robson.  Capello and McClaren were both a bit unlucky imho especially McClaren but the upshot is that the players and the team are overated by the media and the public.  Sven had the current crop of players at their peak.

I think Venables was the worst manager England have had in the past 30 years.

I think the fact that England have been hopeless in penalty shoot outs and been riddled by goalkeeping errors in recent years is a by product of the intense media pressure and public expectation it derives.  It doesn't help that the players know deep down that they are not as good as the public perception.  Rooney was woeful, but it doesn't help that the media in this country compare him to Messi and Ronaldo who he's not in the same league as.  Even Ronaldo is suffering a bit being compared to Messi.

Shearer was vastly overated I thought but is a very strong character and could handle it.  Doesnt look like Rooney can.

Correct,that was why there was a comparison with a low grade handicapper ,and EVERYTHING has to fall right on the day.
I asked the forum to give their top 11 from the Premier in order to show how few top players we have.
Unfortunately,or maybe fortunately,nobody replied to the thread.
When working with lesser material you have to get everything right throughout,can anyone believe that Capello did just that.For my part he got very little right and is obviously difficult to liaise with.
Re. Stevie G. there was a noticable lack of leadership on the field.
   Very few presumably backed England,I didn't either,but we all know better results could have  happened.

Mikel Arteta for England?

Loads of the German squad dont seem to be German.