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McClaren slammed for 'farcical' US trip
Wed, Nov 07, 2007 The Straits Times
LONDON - THE knives are again out for England manager Steve McClaren. First came news that he decided to miss last Saturday's Arsenal-Manchester United clash to fly 9,600km to watch David Beckham play against a few Hollywood actors in Los Angeles. 'For the manager to be watching that is farcical,' former England captain Terry Butcher told the BBC.

Yesterday, The Sun revealed that McClaren did not even attend Sunday's charity match.

Beckham scored twice in the 12-4 win over an opposition that included Def Leppard guitarist Viv Campbell, 48-year-old actor Anthony LaPaglia, who has a plastic hip, and Superman star Brandon Routh.

Instead McClaren settled for meeting Beckham and watching him train, to help him decide whether to recall the player.

The midfielder is coming back from a knee injury, and is likely to be in McClaren's squad for the friendly against Austria on Nov 16 and the decisive Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia five days later.

The &pound15,000 (S$45,000) bill for the manager's three-day trip was footed by the Football Association with the backing of chief Brian Barwick, but a quick phone call could have been enough.