Lest England supporters get too excited that the current national side is not as bad as they

Lest England supporters get too excited that the current national side is not as bad as they might have thought, our statistics show that the performance of Glenn Hoddle's team in France last summer was statistically the worst of any England team to reach the World Cup finals.The 1980s was, by the same measure, England's worst post-war decade. Although the national team failed to qualify for two World Cups in the 1970s, other results in that period lifted the record above that of the 1980s in our study.Keegan's trail, pages 28 and 29HOW ENGLAND MANAGERS COMPARE(3pts for a win, 1 for a draw) (Independent ratings)Pts per game Pts per game 1 Ramsey (1963-74) 2.07 1 Ramsey 2.782 Greenwood (1977-82) 2.02 2 Greenwood 2.763 Hoddle (1996-99) 1.96 3 Venables 2.34 Venables (1994-96) 1.91 4 Taylor 2.15 Robson (1982-90) 1.79 5 Hoddle 1.966 Revie (1974-77) 1.77 6 Robson 1.887 Taylor (1990-94) 1.76 7 Revie 1.17Walter Winterbottom (who never had full team control as manager), Joe Mercer (caretaker for seven matches in 1974) and Howard Wilkinson (caretaker for one match in 1999) not includedPOST-WAR RATINGS(England performances, assessed by Independent ratings)Decade Played Pts Ptsper game60s 100 328 3.2850s 84 264 3.1490s 101 263 2.6070s 99 207 2.0980s 116 197 1.70. WALTER WINTERBOTTOM First game: 28 Sep 1946, Northern Ireland (a) 7-2 Last game: 22 Nov 1962, Wales (h) 4-0P139 W78 D33 L28APPOINTED AFTER an unexpected defeat in Switzerland Winterbottom was director of coaching, with responsibility for the development of the game at all levels, first, and England coach second. He never had full control of selection but, in the early years, this did not matter as England reigned supreme, winning 4-0 in Italy and 10-0 in Portugal (the forward line in Lisbon was Matthews, Mortensen, Lawton, Mannion and Finney).The fluke defeat against the United States in the 1950 World Cup, and a brace of heavy losses against Hungary a few years later, shattered this idyll and England did poorly in the 1954 finals. Steady improvement, including victories over world champions West Germany and Brazil, raised hopes for the 1958 World Cup. But the Munich tragedy fatally weakened the team and, despite drawing with eventual winners Brazil, England went out early.Winterbottom, who worked without assistance until 1962, and had even cooked the team's meals in the 1950 finals, resigned after another disappointing World Cup in 1962.Best match: 10-0 v Portugal (Lisbon) May 1947 F. Worst match: 1-7 v Hungary (Budapest) May 1954 F.SIR ALFRAMSEYFirst game: 27 Feb 1963, France (a) 2-5Last game: 3 Apr 1974, Portugal (a) 0-0P113 W69 D27 L17OFFERED THE job after Jimmy Adamson, Winterbottom's assistant, had turned it down, Ramsey insisted on full control in all team matters.

He quickly promised that England would win the 1966 World Cup.A 5-2 European Championship defeat by France in his first match did not augur well, nor did a loss at Wembley to Austria as late as October 1965. Yet Ramsey had his defence in place and, gradually, fitted the rest of the jigsaw, culminating in Geoff Hurst's inclusion at the quarter-final stage. Victory over West Germany in the final made Ramsey a legend but he hoped it would be the prelude to further triumphs. Though England reached the last four of the 1968 European Championship, and quarter-finals of the 1970 World Cup and 1972 Championship, it was not to be.The much-praised club spirit he had fostered now came to be seen as misguided loyalty and his distrust of "flair" players was also criticised. The end came after England narrowly missed out to Poland in qualifying for the 1974 finals.Best match: 4-2 v W Germany (Wembley) July 1966 WC final.

Worst result: 1-3 v W Germany (Wembley) April 1972 ECQ.JOE MERCERFirst game: 11 May 1974, Wales (a) 2-0Last game: 5 June 1974, Yugoslavia (a) 2-2P7 W3 D3 L1AFTER THE disappointment of failing to qualify for the 1974 World Cup Mercer put a smile back on the face of the England team in a seven-match spell as caretaker, during which England were only beaten once.Best match: 1-0 v Bulgaria (Sofia) June 1974 F. Worst match: 0-2 v Scotland (Hampden) May 1974 F.DON REVIEFirst game: 30 Oct 1974, Czechoslovakia (h) 3-0Last game: 15 June 1977, Uruguay (a) 2-2P30 W15 D8 L7THE OVERWHELMING candidate, once the Football Association had decided against Brian Clough, Revie signally failed to establish the club atmosphere which had been the cornerstone of his success at Leeds.He began well with an adventurous 3-0 victory over Czechoslovakia, soon followed by an excellent win over West Germany, the reigning world champions. However, he failed to trust such players as Alan Hudson, who was inspirational against the Germans, and performances began to slide.The Czechs knocked England out of the European Championship then Italy gained a decisive victory in the qualifying campaign for the 1978 World Cup. Revie decided to quit and negotiated a lucrative coaching position with the United Arab Emirates.