Sports of the World EXCLUSIVE by Harry Redknapp

HIS reign as England boss is finally over after 5 years — but what the hell has Sven Goran Eriksson done for English football?

Next to nothing in my book. I think the great experiment with a foreign manager has been a flop.

I understand that the circumstances of England's defeat yesterday were cruel.

Wayne Rooney's moment of madness is something no manager can really plan for — and then there was the debacle of the penalty shootout.

But the harsh reality is we are no better now than we were when Eriksson first arrived and he hasn't left ANY lasting legacy.

To me, there's no evidence of any blueprint to ensure future success for England and I do not believe he has had a major impact on the team.

Yes, he qualified for three major tournaments but we have not done ourselves justice in any.

Instead of challenging for the big prizes, we have crashed out disappointingly in the quarter-finals each time.

We should have done better and the blame can be laid squarely at the feet of Eriksson.

Remember, he was brought in as the great continental coach who was going to transform English football, the man to take us to a higher level.

He was supposed to be a genius who would turn the nearly men into champions.

We were told it was a job beyond any Englishman, it needed a famous foreigner to show us the way.

But we just lost our way and I'm not sure there was ever a Plan A...let alone Plan B or C.

OK, the players always came out and said what a great bloke he was. But if you are being picked you will say that... well, in public anyway.

I'm not sure they were all saying the same thing privately. I've been asking myself for more than five years now — what the hell is this guy's secret?

But as he walks away, probably to another massive job like Real Madrid, I still haven't got a clue.

I suppose the very best you can say is that Eriksson has done OK.

But that's not good enough as we have a great group of players.

It is a squad you expect to win something — that was his brief.

The FA said he had been appointed to win a major tournament by 2006 but he hasn't. He failed against Brazil in 2002, though admittedly, they did win the World Cup.

But we were a goal up and against 10 men in the second half, yet still lost 2-1.

When Eriksson needed to show how good he was, it just didn't happen, there was nothing.

It was the same story at Euro 2004. We should have beaten Portugal but again Big Phil Scolari — who managed Brazil in 2002 — got the better of Eriksson.

The same Eriksson we pay £5million a year to make the difference to England, while Scolari gets a fraction of that to beat us.

Now for the third time we have been dumped out in the last eight, for the second time by Portugal, again by Scolari.

Let's be frank. England — with all our talent — should be rolling over Portugal.

Just look at the players we have — Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, David Beckham.

If someone asked me: ‘Harry, which country would you like to take to the World Cup finals?' I'd have said England — yes, ahead of Argentina and Brazil.

I'd have fancied my chances against anyone with our boys. It is no great achievement to take this squad into the last eight. Most managers could do that.

When Alf Ramsey won the World Cup in 1966 he had a plan. He didn't use wingers in his 4-4-2 and, whether you liked it or not, you knew what he was doing.

You can say the same about Glenn Hoddle.

He wanted England to play a passing game with a sweeper capable of bringing the ball out from the back.

And when he took the job he made sure all England teams from the Under-18s through to the senior side played the same way to ensure continuity.

I thought Glenn was the man who could really do something for England but it all came to a premature end — a real shame.

And I always ask myself why the hell the FA didn't keep Terry Venables on after 1996? Letting him go was criminal.

The fact that it now looks like he's coming back into the England set-up is an admission that the FA were wrong to get rid of him.

Tel is what you call a coach — out there on the training pitch drumming things into his players, getting his tactics and ideas across face-to-face.

Eriksson was not a coach like that. He stood on the training pitch and observed. And what the hell did Tord Grip do?

Steve McClaren did the coaching so Eriksson's only responsibility was to pick and organise the team.

And crucially, to make the difference when the chips were down. But he had no passion.

I just hope McClaren can make a difference now. I believe he has a great chance to win the 2008 Euro Championships.

I hope so. I just wish I didn't feel we have wasted five years.

Interview: ROB BEASLEY