Okay, okay, we’ll be the first to admit it, we doubted Saint Steve’s capabilities at an international level. Yes, yes, we compared Lord McLaren to an artichoke (God’s worst vegetable) and laughed at his rubbish goldeny hair (well, what’s left of it). But we’ll also be first to admit that thanks to some of his wild decisions, England cruised to a much needed six points out of six. If it had gone tits up, decisions like playing Heskey would have seen him brutally destroyed faster than a kebab snuck into Fat Camp.
But were these brave decisions down to luck or genius, here’s how Pies sees it…

It was almost quite heart warming to hear Bentley booed by England fans at the weekend. With so many empty seats as corporate goons stuffed their faces with Wembley frois graux and prawn sangers, the rings of boos every time the Blackburn winger touched the ball, let the world know real England fans were also in the ground. Fans who were (rightly!) disgusted that the hugely gifted Arsenal reject had snubbed an under-21 call up in the summer. But this got us thinking, what other grrrrrrrreat players have been booed by England fans…
Photo: Getty

Now we know Scotty Parker has been out of the England scene for a long while now, but we had no idea he felt so strongly about his lack of inclusion in the England team. Here he can seen having a massive punch up with poor Steve McCarrot.
Umm, what do you mean they’re ice hockey player who just happen to have the same names. Parker’s wearing the stripes of Newcastle! Umm, what? He plays for West Ham now? God, when did that happen? Anyway, it’s a great ruck. Enjoy…

Former drunk Tony Adams has come out in the press today to compare Steve McLaren with turnips Graham Taylor. The Sun even dare call poor Steve a McTurnip. There are of course two minor problems with this theory. Firstly, Steve McShinyteeth lacks the tactical knowledge of Taylor, secondly the turnip has already been taken in England manager folklore. As of course has the swede.
So lets think outside the box here. What vegetable mosts suits McLaren? For our money it has to be the artichoke…