Sky’s Sunday Supplement: “It was madness to get rid of McClaren” – Patrick Barclay

The show kicked off with the News of the World’s Rob Beasley taking Dimitar Berbatov to task for his recent behaviour. The journalist is convinced that the Bulgarian will leave, citing Gus Poyet’s post match interview as his main proof. The Sunday Times’ Joe Lovejoy would love to see Spurs withhold Berbatov’s wages as he is unwilling to play for the side. Patrick Barclay waded into the debate by pointing a finger at Manchester United for turning the striker’s head, and then using this affair as a basis for complaining about the fact that the transfer window ends a month into the season.

England’s failures were next up for discussion. Patrick Barclay slammed Capello, calling England a “shambles,” claiming he has “never seen an England team worse set up” and arguing that the Italian fails to understand to culture of English football. Then came the biggest statement of the show, “It was madness to get rid of McClaren.” (Thankfully the panel laughed Barclay down.) Joe Lovejoy put forward the case that Gerrard needs to play central midfield, and Rob Beasley was equally dumbfounded by the positioning of the Liverpool captain.

The final topic of the day centred on the problems Everton are having in the transfer market. Patrick Barclay picked up on the “elite system” and major debts which the the top teams operate on as having a destabilising effect on the rest of the Premier League.