While most pundits are already consigning the former Middlesbrough manager's short spell in charge to the history books and bookmakers have installed Jose Mourinho as the early favourite to replace him, McClaren is casting an optimistic eye towards Tel Aviv, where his, and England's, immediate fate will be determined on November 17.

McClaren and his team have been pitched into an unwanted game of Russian roulette as a result of their 2-1 defeat in Moscow, with Israel holding the gun which could terminate their hopes of reaching Euro 2008.

If Israel can maintain their impressive home form and stop Russia from winning at the Ramat Gan Stadium, the Three Lions may yet roar into the European Championships.

If they do not, for England and McClaren, it is the end of the line.

"We still have hope, it is not the end," McClaren insisted.

"It would be a huge disappointment if we did not get there but we are not even thinking about that at the moment.

"There will be a lot of criticism after this result but we will deal with it and get on with it.

"We are in a results business. Now we have to rely on Israel getting one for us."

In the bowels of the Luzhniki Stadium, in the immediate aftermath of defeat, it seemed McClaren was desperately trying to convince himself.

His body language could hardly be described as positive - but then, what did anyone expect.

"We have lost a big football match. You cannot expect me to be confident and breezy," he observed. "We are all very, very disappointed."

The 'all' includes management, coaches, staff and the FA accountants, who will spend the next few weeks working out ways of covering the shortfall in commercial revenue caused by a first failure to reach a major tournament since Graham Taylor's side missed out on the 1994 World Cup.

McClaren knows Taylor was dumped immediately after that failure and, without a dramatic late twist in Group E, the same fate awaits him, even though this England side is so different from the one which suffered what will probably prove to be the fatal blow, the home draw with Macedonia 12 months ago.

In fact, so much has changed there is a temptation to suggest McClaren should be given more time to prove his worth.

After crawling out of the hole they dug for themselves with a tepid opening half against Andorra in March, England have revived.

McClaren is now his own man, making big and brave decisions, none more so than the recalls of David Beckham and Sol Campbell, who turned in such a fine performance last night it was easy to think John Terry's ill-timed knee injury had been a blessing in disguise.

Indeed, but for those four fateful minutes in which Roman Pavlyuchenko twice found the net, initially from a very debatable penalty, England would have been celebrating a smooth passage to next summer's finals in Austria and Switzerland.

But it is not on those four minutes McClaren should hang. As he says he is in a results business and palpably, the results in a group far tougher than many would have you believe, have not been good enough.

If, or when, a change at the top does come, a better motivator is required as a queue of talented players capable of forcing their way past the current 'Golden Generation' does not exist.

And, on the unhappy five-hour flight home, McClaren was no doubt scratching his head for a plausible explanation as to why, on an apparently perfect evening, England suddenly came to be staring into the abyss.

"I felt very comfortable with the way we set up and the way we applied ourselves," he said. "I thought we were in total control.

"I was happy with the preparation. The pitch was okay - that is not an excuse. The attitude, spirit and commitment of the players was right. Tactically, I could not fault them. One decision has cost us."

When he looks back in the days, weeks and months that lie ahead, McClaren might be advised to stay clear of discussions relating to that 'one decision'.

For, while Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo did get it wrong when he ruled Wayne Rooney had tugged Konstantin Zyryanov's shirt inside the area, to make it a Taylor-esque 'Do I not like that' moment would be blinkered to say the least.

After all, Rooney was marginally offside when he belted home a cracking first-half opener and Cantalejo can hardly be blamed for Steven Gerrard missing the sitter that would have doubled England's lead and avoided the kind of degrading straw-clutching exercise McClaren is now engaged in.

"We are relying on Israel to do us a favour," said McClaren.

"They have a good home record, we have been there and it is a tough place to get a result, so it is not going to be easy for Russia.

"Obviously, we are very disappointed. We have gone from being in control of the group to qualification being out of our hands.

"All we can do is reflect, keep our spirits high and stick together.

"We still have one game to go. Russia have two. That is the reality. Let's see where we are after 12 games."