As the debate over the merits of Beckham's return rumbled on yesterday, details emerged of the decision-making process which saw the 32-year-old brought back into the fold. While McClaren had previously discussed major issues with Venables and the rest of his inner circle - such as the decision to drop Beckham in August - he made this latest call unilaterally and presented it to his staff as a done deal.

The England manager was aware that Venables was opposed to Beckham coming back because his assistant had fully backed his plan to cast the player out after the World Cup finals last summer and had counselled against bringing him back for the games against Israel and Andorra in March.

When the Beckham issue finally came up for consideration ahead of selecting the current squad, opinions were sought by McClaren but his staff were made well aware that nothing would change his mind.

Bill Beswick, the sports psychologist whom McClaren brought from Middlesbrough, does not have much say in team selection but he is understood to have fallen in behind the England manager on the Beckham issue. Steve Round, the young coach who also previously worked at Middlesbrough, has also supported McClaren. While Venables has not publicly stated his opposition to the decision, the way in which his opinion has been ignored has given him reason to consider his future.

With his back against the wall, and nothing short of a victory against Estonia in the Euro 2008 qualifier next week enough to keep his job, McClaren has decided to go it alone. He has been left dazed by the criticism he has received after the Croatia, Israel and Andorra games and, it is understood, come to one conclusion: as it was him alone taking the stick, it may as well be him alone who makes the decisions. While McClaren leant on the experience of Venables in his early months in the job, they reached a critical point when the 3-5-2 system that the older man had championed failed so badly in the 2-0 defeat in Croatia in October. Since then McClaren has relied less upon Venables and made more decisions independently, albeit with mixed results.

Venables, now 64, has enjoyed his involvement with the England team and remains a very popular coach, but the principles of the team that he and McClaren agreed upon last August has now been changed fundamentally by Beckham's comeback. Venables was not only opposed to the former England captain's involvement from a football point of view but he also believed that the player's huge global fame and all the attendant pressures that brought were unnecessary.

Whether Venables stays or goes will be rendered irrelevant if England fail to win in Tallinn on 6 June because McClaren - and in all likelihood his backroom staff, too - are certain to be sacked. At the moment, the atmosphere between the two men is said to be cordial but the long-term future of the partnership is in doubt.

In his News of the World column yesterday, Venables pointedly avoided the question of whether Beckham should have been in the squad or not. The only faint support he could give McClaren over the decision was to say: "Whether you think he is right or wrong, at least credit him with making the call." It hardly amounted to an endorsement of McClaren's latest change of heart.

McClaren said on Saturday that the decision to pick Beckham had been made "to help me win the game - end of story". The Real Madrid man is almost certain to start on the right side of midfield against Brazil on Friday and then against Estonia a week on Wednesday, especially since the withdrawal of Aaron Lennon with a twisted knee. In fact, McClaren could pick exactly the same midfield preferred by Sven Goran Eriksson which failed badly at the last World Cup finals.

The England manager has already said that he expects Steven Gerrard to play in the middle and Joe Cole on the left. Now he faces a decision between Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick for the second central place. While Lampard is the more established of the two, he was dropped for the Andorra game in March in favour of Owen Hargreaves, now injured, a decision that was badly fudged at the time by McClaren.

While McClaren then protested that Lampard's broken wrist ruled him out - an injury that did not prevent him missing a single Chelsea game - that was a convenient way of avoiding telling him he was dropped. With McClaren now committed to playing Gerrard alongside a holding midfielder in the style of Hargreaves, Carrick fits that role much better than Lampard.

Another major factor in McClaren's decision to pick Beckham were the reports he received of how Fabio Capello's new fitness regime at Real Madrid had transformed the player. Massimo Neri, the fitness coach who has worked previously with Capello, is credited with helping to turn around the fortunes of the Real team, who are now two games from winning La Liga.

Nevertheless, McClaren admitted that he had made the decision to bring back Beckham without ever watching him play in person. "Opinion will be divided," the England manager said. "People will think it is brave or stupid but it is my decision."

England will train today at Arsenal's Hertfordshire training ground and the Football Association has no plans to give Beckham a public platform before the Brazil match. McClaren is eager that the return of the most famous player of his generation does not overshadow the week - although that is likely to be extremely wishful thinking.

England squad

Paul Robinson (Tottenham)

Scott Carson (Liverpool)

Robert Green (West Ham Utd)

Phil Neville (Everton)

Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd)

John Terry (Chelsea)

Wayne Bridge (Chelsea)

Wes Brown (Man Utd)

Jamie Carragher (Liverpool)

Michael Dawson (Tottenham)

Ledley King (Tottenham)

Nicky Shorey (Reading)

David Beckham (Real Madrid)

Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)

Joe Cole (Chelsea)

Aaron Lennon (Tottenham)

David Bentley (Blackburn)

Michael Carrick (Man Utd)

Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Stewart Downing (M'brough)

Kieron Dyer (Newcastle)

Peter Crouch (Liverpool)

Michael Owen (Newcastle)

Alan Smith (Man Utd)

Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)