If Steve McClaren were a policeman he would almost certainly be suspicious of fellow detectives who routinely acted on "a hunch". England's head coach has never been good at trusting his instincts, and this trait probably explains why his volte face over David Beckham is only the latest in a line of u-turns.
All too tellingly, the resurrection of Beckham's England career was reportedly based on a careful study of Real Madrid's Prozone statistics. Whereas most national coaches contemplating a recall for a player apparently finished at international level would watch him in the flesh before making a judgment, McClaren opted against a trip to Spain, instead poring over computer print-outs. Justifying this change of heart on the basis of "scientific proof" presumably reassured a man all too often beset by doubt.
Such insecurity frequently manifests itself as indecision. Last October McClaren cancelled a long-planned trip to the Pacific seaboard of the US with a group of English journalists. He had intended to take them to see the Seattle Seahawks in NFL action and explain why his deep interest in American football informed a key part of his philosophy, but when a home draw against Macedonia was followed by defeat in Croatia the excursion was scrapped.
Bowing to populist criticism that the Seattle jolly was "irrelevant", McClaren instead watched Premiership games, thereby making a mockery of earlier claims that for England's footballers to prosper it was essential to acquaint them with "lateral thinking" from different sports. The sojourn in the US might just have won sceptical reporters round but instead the coach was left looking weak and in two minds.
Perhaps this willingness to blow with the wind reflects his "consensus" style in which junior coaches are regarded as part of an influential cabinet and Bill Beswick, his sports psychologist, invariably briefs him before press conferences. As Jim Smith, whom McClaren once assisted at Derby, admits: "I'm not prepared to listen to as many opinions as Steve. I'm a bit more bloody-minded."
Significantly this need for sounding boards prompted the appointment of not only Max Clifford to buff up McClaren's public image but also the former national coach Terry Venables as assistant manager. The relationship with Clifford ended in painful divorce - over the publicist's autumn comment that "Steve would not be too proud to bring David Beckham back" - and the alliance with Venables has, politically, proved a disaster, with the pair falling out not only over Beckham but also the merits of 3-5-2 and 4-4-2.
Urged on by Venables, England fielded a 3-5-2 in Croatia last October but the No2 had apparently advocated a much more radical version than the uncomfortable, overconservative compromise deployed on the night. Featuring John Terry as an uneasy sweeper, it proved a miserable failure and, clearly unwilling to risk further experimentation, England have now reverted to 4-4-2.
Unfortunately, and confusingly for England's players, McClaren and Venables are still singing from different hymn sheets. After that defeat in Zagreb the latter used his newspaper column to say Stewart Downing had been dropped because of his failure to cope with abuse from fans. McClaren, meanwhile, had told the Middlesbrough left-winger that his omission was tactical. Not that such crossed wires would have come as an entire surprise to the Teessider. When Downing was a teenager McClaren opined privately that he "was not a 90-minute player" and tried to sell him to Wigan before Steve Gibson, the chairman, blocked the move. Downing's crosses later played a big part in getting McClaren the England job by helping Boro to the 2006 Uefa Cup final.
Gibson was also responsible for possibly the most important u-turn of McClaren's life. In January 2006 Boro faced relegation and McClaren's solution was root-and-branch reform involving the departure of established players including Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. Deeply uneasy, Gibson and Gareth Southgate, the then captain, talked him out of this policy, persuading him to offer the old stagers an amnesty. Hasselbaink returned to the first team and, scoring prolifically, ensured not only that Uefa Cup final appearance but also a return to mid-table. Whether Beckham's comeback can similarly restore McClaren's credibility remains a moot point.
