THE fact that we are out of Euro 2016 is of little surprise, but the night of ignominy that England's fans had to endure in Nice on Monday was something more of a shock.

A lack of fight, a lack of heart, a lack of belief and, above all, a lack of leadership. England, always dubbed (for some reason) as an outside favourite, but never justifying that oh so lofty tag, have been beaten by Iceland – a country the size of Leicester.

Where was that much talked about ‘character’? Where was anything that showed England fans actually had a right to think we had a chance of progressing deeper into this tournament? Honestly, I am appalled.

Had England won and set up a quarter-final with France, we would probably have lost and all the cracks would have been papered over as Roy insisted the "hosts were fuelled by their home support" and "the lads had given their all" and the same old nonsense.

England were shameful against Iceland, from the fourth minute to the 93rd minute. While the players were being given the run-around on the pitch, Hodgson had long relinquished the coat-tails of his opposite numbers – Lars Lagerback and Heimir Hallgrímsson, a dentist.

Roy has not known his best team or his best formation since this tournament began, seemingly hopeful his individually talented players could dig him out of a hole, and that was sometimes the case (Sturridge's last minute winner against Wales). But from the moment Aaron Gunnarsson’s long throw was flicked on by giant Kari Arnason (marked by not so giant Wayne Rooney) it was clear there were huge problems. This was a decision made by the management before the game, to deal with Iceland’s most potent weapon - a decision that was not rectified after half-time.

Kyle Walker’s failure to stick with goal scorer Ragnar Sigurdsson was far less surprising.

But what on earth was (now former assistant manager and ex England defender) Gary Neville saying before the game? How many times have we seen him pick apart teams on Monday Night Football for basic and fundamental errors? You can bet your mortgage he would have identified the long throw as a danger, but maybe he was too busy drawing lines on fancy iPads to show the players how to put the method into practice. How his stock has fallen in the last six months.

In what was the first time England’s defence had been tested in this year’s competition, the previously maligned back four failed spectacularly.

Yes, Joe Hart was at fault (again) for the second goal but he may have expected his team-mates to rally around him and produce a response. But the brightest spark was Marcus Rashford, who was introduced with four minutes remaining and was as well-known as half the leaders of the European Union come the end of 2015.

We needed something at half-time. Didn’t we all expect something to chance at the start of the second-half? Crunch into some tackles, take some risks. But no, nothing. It is impossible to pick out who was the worst performer, although Harry Kane seemed keen to pick up the accolade after another wretched display.

What is vitally important is that Roy is held to account. Slinking off 30 minutes after the final whistle without answering questions to the media is unacceptable.

He has failed his team and his country. And we deserve to know why.

Hodgson was the highest paid manager at Euro 2016, more than proven international managers Joachim Low and Spain’s Del Bosque (who have won four international tournaments between them since England last won a knockout game). The man who had penned his resignation letter before England has lost earned £3.5 million a year, let that sink in.

The importance of tactics is crucial. Look at Leicester City, look at Italy, look at Iceland. They play to their strengths. What is England’s strength?

So now we can all get excited as the FA looks to the future. And the candidates probably surprise no-one at all. Southgate? Pardew? Allardyce? Martinez?!

Personally, I quite like the idea of an Alan Shearer or maybe even an Eddie Howe, supported by someone like Harry Redknapp. Unorthodox maybe but that could be exactly what England need.

As everyone else has said up to now, fair play to Iceland for what they did on Monday. They did exactly what they needed to do, but that should never have been enough to stop England qualifying at their expense.

A country without any professional league or clubs and, again, which is (half) managed by a dentist. By the minnows showed all the bite England never displayed.