Win ugly, win any which way. We are so desperate that we will take victory by any means. If there is any lesson for Steve McClaren from the rugby union World Cup, it is that no one is going to be sniffy about how he reaches the latter stages of a tournament as long as he does it.
If, in rugby terms, that means keeping it tight, defending stoutly, kicking for territory and creating a handful of opportunities for Jonny Wilkinson, in football it means packing the midfield, scuffling like Greece at Euro 2004 and squeezing the life out of technically superior opponents.
It may also mean a switch to 4-3-3 and the surprise is that McClaren is not rushing to embrace that system in