FA chief gets behind McLaren

Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick today leapt to the defence of Steve McClaren’s appointment as England manager and denied his organisation had been “sluggish” in finding a successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Speaking at a sport business conference in London, Barwick agreed that England’s recent performances had been below par after a promising start to McClaren’s reign, but claimed it was too early to judge Eriksson’s former number two.