Town boss Mick McCarthy says the success of sides with a “real team ethic” has stood out to him during Euro 2016, including Iceland, whose 2-1 vanquishing of England on Monday led to manager Roy Hodgson’s resignation.

McCarthy believes Iceland were patronised in some quarters in the run-up to the match: “I know it’s a small country but just because they have a small country doesn’t mean to say they can’t have a decent football team and decent footballers.

“And they’ve slapped a few in their time. They knocked Holland out of qualifying, the Czech Republic were in their group as well.

“They had a really tough group, so I think it’s been a little bit disrespectful to them, not as a small nation, just as a team. They are a good side and they play like a team.

“And I love that, that’s stood out to me more than anything in this tournament. It’s the teams that are winning.

“All right, Ronaldo and his Portugal team have finally got their act together, but the super stars, supposedly, aren’t the ones who are winning it.

“Italy have got a real team ethic and stick together and work hard. It’s been great. I’ve loved it. I could say Wales as well, and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, they’ve all done well.”

He added: “I’ve seen [Wales manager] Chris Coleman [talking about being] ‘stronger together’ and they are, they’ve been a real breath of fresh air those lads, how they’ve all worked for each other.

“And yet they have got one star player. Actually Aaron Ramsey’s been brilliant as well, and Joe Allen, Ashley Williams too. They’ve had some good individual performances, but the reality is that it’s been a real team effort.

“And I think that the one real star player, Gareth Bale, has been selfless and fitted into the squad, they haven’t all had to show deference to him, and that’s been a real difference for Wales.

“Star players will win you games, teams win you leagues, teams get you promoted, teams stop you getting relegated. Star players will win you individual games.”

Regarding England’s exit, he said: “I did watch it. What went wrong was they didn’t play particularly well and they conceded two awful goals against a team that can defend.

“Having got off to a wonderful start with the penalty and were 1-0 up, they were dozy, fell asleep, conceded a goal from a throw-in.

“Those things can be stopped. You’re playing against Iceland, you know they’ll sit back, you know they’re good on the break, you know they’re good at freekicks and corners, you’ve got to make sure you stop those things. The second goal should have been saved.

“If you give goals away you’ll get beaten in games and that’s been proven with Iceland, they’re no mugs.

“Everybody was demeaning them and disrespecting them and they’re a better side than people have given them credit for. But England should still have beaten them.”

McCarthy said Hodgson’s post-match resignation came as no surprise: “I knew he’d resign as soon as the game was over. I remember having a defeat myself with Ireland and I made my decision to resign. I didn’t do it immediately after the game because we hadn’t got a game until the February and I thought I’d give myself a bit of thinking time.

“Roy’s an honourable manager, a decent man and I thought that that would be exactly what he’d do, and he did.

“He’d got nowhere to go after that. He had no chance of turning people’s thought process around about him or the team. He’s a really honourable, decent guy. He’s a lovely man, Roy.

“I felt for him last night because they were really tough circumstances but I thought he took the pressure off all the players and everybody else by doing what he did. The performance was way, way below what they’d expect.”

The Blues boss wasn’t keen to get too involved in the reasons for England’s latest tournament failure - “I’ll let everyone else pick the bones out of it, that’s not for me” — although one thing did immediately spring to mind: “There’s only about 30 per cent of English players in the Premier League, which doesn’t help.”

Similarly, he wouldn’t be drawn on Hodgson’s successor: “I’ve no idea, and I’m not really bothered. It doesn’t really interest me who gets the job.

“I saw the list of names and the odds go up and he hadn’t been gone from the job for five minutes. I think that’s kind of disrespectful anyway. I’ll let all them get on with it.

“I think Roy’s had four years and he loved the job, I know that. Somebody who gets it is going to be very lucky and might be very unlucky at the same time when he gets it because it changes their life.”

He added: “I think such bodies as the FA or Apple, big businesses who have all these huge sums of money, generally have recruitment agencies that will go through people with a fine-tooth comb and do it almost on a scientific basis and generally find the best person for the job. I’ll leave that to them.”

Photo: Action Images

cats_whiskers added 09:05 - Jun 29 You have to go way back to Glen Hoddle and Bobby Robson for the most decent England team managers. The last 17 years have been filled with inadequate imbeciles who didn't possess the capabilities to do so. Harry Redknapp should have been appointed and not Hodgson. Who's possibly next? Gareth Southgate... Surely he'd be even worse than Steve McClaren
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Lightningboy added 11:40 - Jun 29 Here's a crazy idea - how about the England squad getting picked from Championship players instead of Prem? Couldn't do much worse..lol.
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Lightningboy added 11:40 - Jun 29 Here's a crazy idea - how about the England squad getting picked from Championship players instead of Prem? Couldn't do much worse....?
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clive_baker added 12:53 - Jun 29 England's problem is an arrogant belief that we're better than we are. We have one of the best products in the world in the Premier League, but it's not the English players that make it that way. Don't get me wrong we have good players, I just don't think we have great players. Smalling, Cahill, Rose, Lallana, Vardy, Sterling, Henderson, Milner etc etc....good players, not great players. Of course we should still be beating Iceland, but we need to face up to that fact, stop trying to reinvent the wheel and get a manager and staff that will bring us back to basics, well organised and competitive in tournament football. Like Italy have done. We need a brand and identity that the players can get on board with and know their roles. Roy made 6 changes to the side for the last friendly before. 2 years of prep and he still didn't know his best XI. Similarly to Mick's contribution at Ipswich (and Ireland), and the performance of the home nations in this tournament we need a management team that can ensure the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Never happen but England could do worse than Mick. I'm backing Big Sam.

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MattinLondon added 13:25 - Jun 29 The academies may well have improved the technique but they seem to have done little with improving the tactical understanding of the average English player. German players seem to be far more intelligent on the pitch and know that where they fit into the structure of the team. Maybe English players are far too pampered and spoilt to be true team players rather than an individual. Spineless and lethargic when it really matters and its just not good enough.

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