Football: What the papers said . . . about England

'We wuz robbed . . . England were cheated out of the World Cup.' The Sun (Thursday)

'A cheating German referee deprived England of a place in the World Cup finals.' Daily Mirror (Thursday)

'Forget the We Woz Robbed headlines . . . There can be no excuses.' The Sun (Friday)

'Three jeers for Taylor . . . Don't let Graham Taylor and his apologists fool you into believing that England's elimination is the sole fault of a German referee.' Daily Mirror (Friday)

'The bell tolled for Graham Taylor as the corpse of the England team he created lay in the foreign field of Rotterdam.' Daily Express

'Defeat has left the nation crying with frustration and anger.' Today

'Enough is enough. No more of Graham's paranoid gobbledygook. No more of Taylor's obsessive certainty.' Daily Mail

'Taylor's career as England manager effectively ended last night. A dignified, principled man, he has never had the luck he deserves.' Daily Telegraph

'Although it would be unkind, unfair and inaccurate to say that Taylor has failed to close the Watford credibility gap, there is no escaping the impression that for his biggest matches his judgement deserted him.' Guardian

'Taylor's many errors in selection and tactics now came home to roost. Here was a team borne along by optimism and spirit rather than coherence and its blend of skills.' The Times

'Graham Taylor's managership has seen more dodgy bets than Gamblers' Anonymous, and while there will be much sympathy for the way of it, the failure of his latest high-risk selection has probably signalled the end of his ill-starred reign . . . From day one in the qualifying series . . . they have not been good enough.' The Independent

'It's come to something if we can't beat a country a quarter of England's size unless they're first reduced to 10 men.' Daily Mirror

'Graham Taylor has led his side out of the World Cup and himself out of a job. So it's Ta Ta Turnip from us.' The Sun