So it was no surprise when the knives went flying into his back from all directions as Europe's defence of the Ryder Cup finally went flying off the rails on Sunday evening.

Fair enough in a way, because he never came across as a convincing leader while Paul Azinger inspired less heralded US players such as Anthony Kim, JB Holmes and Boo Weekley to incredible heights.

In addition, his tactic of leaving out Lee Westwood on the second morning and more importantly of leaving his big guns to the back end of the singles patently failed.

But when you analyse it, that last day gamble so nearly paid off.

It wasn't Faldo's fault that Sergio Garcia allowed himself to be well and truly spooked by Kim and his game collapsed in disarray, or that Miguel Angle Jiminez and Padraig Harrington never hit the heights on the last day when their experience should have been a vital factor.

And the inclusion of Ian Poulter as a wild card was a master stroke, because he showed true class and bottle to go with his cockiness.

Faldo made mistakes, and he's not everyone's cup of tea, but in the face of that middle order US onslaught on Sunday, would anyone else have done any better?

I very much doubt it.