While Brian Barwick and associates say they are happy at the pace of their progress in finding a successor to Sven Goran Eriksson as England manager, they aren’t being drawn into the web of rumours and supposed meetings that is being played out by the English tabloid media.

The latest potential candidate to speak to the FA seems to be Luiz Felipe Scolari, World Cup winning coach with Brazil in 2002 and the Portugal coach who led them to the European Championship final two years ago. Scolari’s track record compared to the other wannabes is obviously second to none and in a straight race based on medals earned he would be the runaway leader. Given the growing campaign for the next England manager to be English (or if it’s Martin O’Neill, at least British) Scolari may find he’s several years too late to become a foreign manager of England with many fans views on this soured by the uneasy relationship and performances under Eriksson.

Still English and in the running are Charlton Athletic boss Alan Curbishley, current England assistant and Middlesbrough manager Steve McLaren and Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce while Stuart Pearce has seemingly ruled himself out at this time but could still find himself as part of the setup, possibly as assistant coach as he is groomed as an eventual successor next time around

One name that keeps coming up is that of Northern Irishman Martin O’Neill and he is perhaps best suited of all contenders to take the job. Preferring to avoid a full-time club manager’s position as he spends time with his ill wife, the more relaxed working hours of an international coach would suit O’Neill and with a great reputation as a small time miracle worker in England and a title winner and UEFA Cup finallist with Celtic in Scotland, O’Neill is arguably the most qualified and decorated homegrown contender.

With the FA trying to appoint the new man before the World Cup begins, it shouldn’t be too long until the specualtion can end and the English press can begin their next campaign to hound the new man out. Turnips anyone?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 20th, 2006 at 10:21 am and is filed under International Football - England. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.