LONDON - Steve McClaren paid the price of England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 yesterday when he was unceremoniously dismissed from his position as head coach.

Ex-England soccer manager Steve McClaren listens to questions at a news conference at a hotel in St. Albans, north of London, November 22, 2007. McClaren took full responsibility on Thursday for England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 and said being sacked as manager was one of the saddest days of his career. [Agencies] McClaren, who had refused to resign, was sacked less than 12 hours after a 3-2 win for Croatia at Wembley - combined with Russia's 1-0 win in Andorra - confirmed that England would miss out on a major tournament for the first time since the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

An emergency meeting of the Football Association (FA)'s Executive Board was wound up almost as soon as it began with McClaren's employers unanimously agreeing that they had no option but to call an end to the former Middlesbrough manager's hapless 15-month reign.

McClaren's assistant Terry Venables was also sacked as the FA pledged a "root and branch" inquest into how an England squad that can call upon some of the biggest names in world football had failed to get through a group that was regarded as easily negotiable when the qualifying draw was made two years ago.

FA Chief Executive Brian Barwick, the man who appointed McClaren and gave him a four-year contract with no penalties for failure, said the board had been left with no alternative.

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