The main candidates for England job analysed as Mourinho shortens in the betting

Football Food For Thought / Nik Wardle / 28 November 2007 / 3

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"Knowledgeable" Nik Wardle on the names dominating the betting in the next England manager market

It appears everyone wants to have their say upon who will be the next England manager, including Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini. Oh, and me.

Jose Mourinho [3.2]: Is he really interested in the post or is his invitation to the FA to talk to him merely aimed at stroking his ego? The initial buzz appeared to be that he was waiting for one of the top dozen or so European club managerial positions to become vacant. That was before he took charge of Portugal and then possibly the EU. There would be no harm sounding him out but I feel the FA may want to avoid the embarrassment of being turned down by anyone, though.

Fabio Capello [5.6]: The only man to come out and say he wants the job. He's a bit of a mercenary, who appears to put himself forward for any top European post, but has Champions League success on his CV. He's used to dealing with "galacticos" and wouldn't fawn over our top stars like Sven did. For those not opposed to a foreigner getting the job, I think the only negative mark against his candidacy is that he's unlikely to care about the future of the English game - you wouldn't expect him to take an interest in shaping English schools football, for example. However, it's a results business and this man usually delivers. At the right price, that is.

Martin O'Neill [12]: It amuses me that his name always crops up when there's talk of English candidates. O'Neill should've been given the job in 2006 and he knows it. It would take a lot of pride-swallowing for him to be offered or for him to accept the post and this may count against him. He's bringing some young English talent along nicely at Villa (Agbonlahor, Carson and Young), is conscientious enough to care about English football at all levels and would have the public on his side initially. I think he'd have a bit of work to do initially to get our heavyweight players on side but Martin's made a success of every job he's had, except maybe Norwich, but that's so long ago that few really remember.

Harry Redknapp [8.6]: Everyone appears to be warming to Harry at the moment and with good reason. He's doing at Portsmouth what he did at West Ham: turning relegation candidates into UEFA Cup qualification challengers. He's adept at getting middling Premier League players to perform but hasn't had the chance at club level to work at a top club. It's a shame that managers like Redknapp, O'Neill and Mark Hughes are unlikely to ever be asked to manage a top four club - this denies them the opportunity to work with our best players and thus makes them a mildly risky international appointment. I've only ever heard his former players talk fondly of him, so he should be able to bond with the squad. His teams also always pass the ball - key at international level. His refusal to talk to the BBC is unlikely to go down well with the PC FA, though.

Jurgen Klinsmann [28]: He brought the feel-good factor to Germany at the last World Cup and there are whispers he may be interested. He didn't stick around long with the German national side and this may concern the FA, and so will his unwillingness to leave his Californian home. The England players need to get rid of the fear factor and Klinsmann's positivity would help with this. And maybe he could bring in his old mate Teddy Sheringham as his number two, to please those who want ex-England players involved with the camp.

Alan Shearer [29]: Not for me. I don't go along with the selection of a candidate under tub-thumping grounds, much as I wasn't in favour of Stuart Pearce in 2006. There is the current Klinsmann/Van Basten argument but Germany were the host nation in the World Cup and host nations and the German's always do well, and I feel Holland have only done okay under Van Basten. Also, I'm unsure if all the players would take to Shearer, a little like not all took to Glenn Hoddle. Ruud Gullit and Roy Keane didn't think much of Shearer and I'm sure there were more besides.

Of the others, I doubt Scolari [32)] will be asked again and seeing as he's available, I would've expected Lippi [70] to have announced any interest by now if he had any.

If I could choose any manager in the world to manage England I'd have Arsene Wenger but there appears zero chance he'd take the job. Of those Betfair customers have selected to be in the running, Mourinho would be my first choice, if he's really interested. If not I'd say realistically, it was between Capello, O'Neill and Redknapp. And Harry would be my choice if it had to be an English manager.

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Lewis Appleby | 28 November 2007

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I too would probably have Arsene Wenger as manager if anyone, but I'm not sure how well he would do with the job. I mean, would he be able to cope with the fact that he cannot draft in any French players?

I don't think Mourinho will take the job, but I'd love it if he did. He would sort the players out, but the downside for me would be the fact that again the England side would consist of his old Chelsea buddies. Particularly Lampard, who I have lost all respect for.

If Capello can learn English then he too would probably bring, probably not success, more than McClaren gave to us. I'm not a fan of Redknapp, but cannot think of another English manager worth of the job. I've heard Steve Coppell's name mentioned on a few occasions - please no!
Marc L | 28 November 2007

I am a big of fan of Capello and think he would be the right man for the Job.

As a gooner and massive Wenger fan I would hate for him to take the England job and to be honest I am not sure how well he would do. His style of play and coaching is for technical players who can pass the ball round with their eyes closed. Unfortunately England do not have these kind of players (thus the lack of English players in the Arsenal squad) and I personally think he would struggle with this lack of quality.

That's not to say England cannot be a great team, as we do possess great players - just not great technical ones. Capello gets results, he always has done and I think he could do the same with England. It may not be pretty, but I don't think the England supporters really care at this stage.

As for Mourinho I am not overly impressed (and yes I know I'm one of only a few) - but for me I really want to see Mourinho take over an average team in the EPL without massive funds, then we will see how good a manager he is. As Mr Grant is proving, winning with Chelsea is not quite as difficult as say winning with Newcastle!
Simon Barlow | 29 November 2007

Mourinho - I'm warming to the idea. There are one or two problems...John Terry - didn't he allegedly stab ol Jose in the back in the end at Chelsea ? Revenge in the air - no, he's not stupid they would make that one up quickly.

I think he might take it if the FA shell out big time for his contract. He knows England have got a decent group to qualify for the World Cup from and there are players coming through.

He's also quite good pals with Gerrard. Lampard might get a game but who knows maybe he can solve the problem of harnessing the duo in tandem ??? Nah, he's not a miracle worker.