Crozier: Keegan left us rudderless

Adam Crozier has accused Kevin Keegan of damaging the nation's World Cup hopes by leaving England "completely rudderless".

The FA chief executive criticises Keegan's decision to quit after England's 1-0 defeat to Germany in October 2000 in a new biography of his successor Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Crozier said: "Quitting after Germany left us completely rudderless for the trip to Helsinki.

"Another false start in the second game, which was what we had, was always going to make the task of qualifying even more difficult for whoever took over permanently. Kevin should have stayed on for that one and I tried very hard to persuade him, as did a number of players." Keegan resigned minutes after England's defeat in the last game to be played at Wembley.

Crozier said in the book Sven-Goran Eriksson: "In the dressing room after the game we all tried - Tony Adams in particular - to get him to reconsider.

"He was still popular with the players and even after that game there was still a lot of love and a great deal of support for Kevin.

"They wanted him to stay but there was no persuading him."

Crozier believed Keegan's decision to quit was right, but badly timed. He said: "Losing to Germany was an incredibly disappointingway to start the World Cup, but it was the way we lost it.

"The way we played that afternoon, we seemed to have gone backwards again. Kevin could see there were good young players coming through who were going to improve the team over the next couple of years and he wasn't sure if he was the right man to get the best out of them."

After the goalless draw against Finland, Eriksson was appointed but Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale, a member of the FA committee which appointed the Swede, said: "We came up with two names for the job - Bobby Robson and Sven. After the first meeting Bobby was in front, but he ceased to be a runner when Newcastle wouldn't release him."