English Or Not

[jayp]

To go for an Englishman or not, that is the questionMartin Samuel
So here is the predicament: the best men for the England job are not English, but the England football team should undoubtedly be managed by an Englishman. What to do?

The reliance of the leading Barclays Premier League clubs on coaching talent from beyond these shores is beginning to bite now. Unless we can be convinced that Sam Allardyce or Stuart Pearce is any more qualified for the role than Steve McClaren, and any less likely to come a cropper against sharp operators such as Guus Hiddink or Luiz Felipe Scolari, there simply is no one out there.

Alan Curbishley would not get an interview these days – he was less than impressive before – while Martin O’Neill, who is clearly a promising and deserving candidate, is no more English in football terms than Sven-Göran Eriksson. We can claim O’Neill is a product of England’s football heritage, but we clutch at straws in doing so. To Uefa, Northern Ireland is another country and appointing O’Neill and pretending otherwise would be an insult to intelligence: his and ours.

And England should have an English manager. This is international football, after all. It is the best of yours against the best of theirs and to have someone who is not a product of your football culture is, well, cheating. Russia’s victory in Moscow on Wednesday did not belong to one country alone. There was a Dutch coach, deploying Dutch tactics and a Dutch philosophy, learnt in the Netherlands and exported around the world. If that is the way Russia choose to go, then fine; but it isn’t right. Fifa really should pass a rule against it.

Hand in hand with the falsehood that only the club game matters and that it is a good thing that England are going out of the European Championships because Michael Owen will then be fit to focus on beating Derby County next season – a surprising number are small-minded enough to believe this – is the idea that because Liverpool can put a Spaniard in charge, so could England. And, by the rulebook, we can; and in all likelihood he would do a better job. But the international game should be bigger than that; really it should.

So there is the FA’s impasse – and mine. Who do I want as England manager? Arsène Wenger, José Mourinho, Martin O’Neill. Who should get the England job? One of our guys. Is there anybody out there remotely qualified? No.

It is what is called a dilemma, as Joe Orton explained. And dear old Brian Barwick is on the horns of it.

[jayp]

As Brian Barwick, the Football Association chief executive, went through the motions of backing Steve McClaren yesterday, others at Soho Square conceded it is unlikely to be long before the search for his successor starts in earnest. José Mourinho would be a hugely popular choice, while Randy Lerner, the Aston Villa owner, offered his support to Martin O’Neill’s candidacy by saying that he would not stand in his manager’s way if he was offered the job.

The availability of ageing but serial winners such as Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi has not gone unnoticed, while the FA will also investigate whether Jürgen Klinsmann would consider following his successful work with Germany by taking a job with their longstanding rivals.

Sources close to Mourinho said he is not interested in managing England, despite there being nothing in his severance agreement with Chelsea to prevent it, instructing friends to spread the word that his next job will be in club football. But there will be a clamour for the Portuguese to take over if McClaren is dismissed and it remains to be seen whether public opinion can change his mind.

Mourinho is enjoying his sabbatical, spending time with his family and studying at a university near his home town of Setúbal, but hopes to return to a big European club before the end of the season. He has said repeatedly that the only international team he wants to manage is Portugal, and that towards the end of his career.

Vultures circle over McClaren’s regime
Klinsmann’s intentions are less clear, although he is keen to get back to work. The former Tottenham Hotspur striker, who watched England’s defeat in Moscow on pay-per-view at his California home, is an Anglophile but his progressive methods and desire for complete control may be too much for traditionalists. O’Neill is similarly strong-minded and has not let the disappointment of being rejected last year diminish his ambitions. He would welcome another opportunity to show what he can do.

Lerner as good as revealed that his manager wants the job by indicating that he would be willing to release him from his 12-month rolling contract. “It’s clearly one of the great honours you can achieve in management, anywhere, any time,” he said. “I would not stand in his way, but my God, I hope he’s here for the long term.”

The endorsement of McClaren from Barwick was far more half-hearted. “Steve’s job is to prepare the players for [matches against] Austria and Croatia,” he said. “You wouldn’t expect me to say anything else and he has my support.” The head coach himself said he was “not even thinking about resigning, I’m really not. It’s not crossing my mind whatsoever. There’s still hope and it’s not the end.”

[Dexter]

Nice posts m8, they are actually a good read.

[Beefy]

Why are the English always going on about the case of our manager must be English. It's not a rule stipulated by FIFA, so surely it makes more sense to go for the best man available. Stick with the English and you get a muppet like McClaren, Pearce, or Curbishley, and none of them will take us forward. I don't care who manages us, and to be truthful i'm beginning to lose interest in the England team. I don't want arsehole millionaires who don't give a shit about their country like Ashley Cole, Ferdinand and Rooney to end up with a knighthood for winning the World Cup. I want to see players with passion, who are proud to play for their country. I want to see these millionaires sing their hearts out like the Rugby lads will do tomorrow during the national anthem, not stood silently thinking another good game will increase my bargaining power on a new contract.