McClaren was dismissed this morning, 12 hours after England's hopes of reaching Euro 2008 were ended by a 3-2 defeat to Croatia at Wembley.

After spending just 18 matches in charge, McClaren is the shortest-serving England boss in history and the outlook for his successor is not great given the national side's long history of underachievement.

Indeed, given the combination of massive expectation, total lack of success over the past four decades, highly-paid players who consistently fail to reach the same levels for England as they do so regularly for their clubs and the huge media intrusion, many people believe the job is now beyond anyone's capabilities.

Already Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce, one of the front-runners last time around following Sven-Goran Eriksson's departure, has ruled himself out of contention.

However, McClaren, who will take a short break before beginning the search for alternative employment, remains convinced it is a role to be relished.

"It is not an impossible job," he said.

"It is a huge challenge but it is also an honour and I would not regard it as a poisoned chalice at all."

Indeed, McClaren feels he has improved as a manager despite going through so much trauma in his 15 months in charge.

Against Andorra in Barcelona last March, McClaren was subjected to probably the worst abuse ever heaped on an England manager and while the reaction to last night's stunning events was nowhere near as bad, it was soon apparent he had lost any support remaining on the terraces.

And, while he refused to resign, claiming today he had "never walked away from anything in his life", he knew the call from FA chief executive Brian Barwick informing him he had been relieved of his duties was inevitable.

It came at 9.30am, 15 minutes before the FA informed the world.

"I believed I was up to the job when I took it and I still believe it now," said McClaren, resisting the temptation to follow Kevin Keegan, who admitted he was "a bit short" when he penned his own resignation in the Wembley toilets after defeat to Germany seven years ago.

"But obviously, you are judged by results. I said right at the start I would live and die by results and results haven't gone my way. In that sense we have failed.

"I take full responsibility for that and I have paid the price."

Famously, Eriksson took an entire year off after he left the England job, ensuring the FA paid his compensation in full before he rejoined the management ranks at Manchester City.

No such wrangle is thought to exist with McClaren, who accepts he needs time to recharge his batteries but already appears to be getting itchy feet about getting back to work again.

"I am not one to lie on a beach," he said.

"I believe I am a better manager than I was 18 months ago. I know will recover and I know I will bounce back."

McClaren insisted he had no regrets over his team selection, from dropping David Beckham at the start of his time in charge to his decision not to bring defensive midfielder Owen Hargreaves off the bench after England had clawed their way back to level terms last night in a game where a draw would have been enough to qualify.

The match was the first time England have conceded three goals in a competitive home match since West Germany won 3-1 at Wembley in 1972.

McClaren did admit he was about to introduce Hargreaves to offer his wobbly defence some cover just before Mladen Petric belted home the fateful winner, which ultimately brought down the curtain on his time with England.

"When I was appointed, it was the proudest day of my career. This is the saddest," he said.

"In between, there have been some good times and bad - that is what you get in football."

McClaren refused to enter into any discussion over the underlying reasons behind England's repeated failures.

However, once the upset and disappointment has eased, he will offer Barwick his thoughts, although he refused to accept the highly-paid players under his care were not passionate about representing their countries.

"These are professional footballers who want to play for England," he said.

"All I will say is they are a pleasure to work with, they really want to achieve.

"Unfortunately we have come up short and we all take responsibility.

"After the disappointment and the criticism we need to get behind our football players."