I'd like to see the Special One take the job but I clearly have no idea who is going to be McLaren's successor!

I think MON will get the job in the end, but I'd be more than happy with Jose, Jol or Stuart Pearce. Harry Redknapp wouldn't be too bad either.

I do not want Sam Allerdyce, or any Scottish manager!

He's a top manager, dunno about him for England though.

Hmm... Capello with England... I dunno... him and Lippi are interesting choices but I have no idea if it would work out well...

It's an unsourced statement so no idea where it's from or if it's accurate, but there are a couple of places in the less reliable Italian press quoting Martin O'Neill as having turned down the England job.

EDIT: I know this isn't precisely related to the poll, but I think that Barwick (and some of the other 'leaders' at the FA) should also resign. IMO, for the good of the game in England, the whole setup needs to be rebuilt.

Hopefully it's true, but I'm still trying to find an explination as to why MON flew to New York to meet with Mr. lerner recently, hopefully it's completely un-related.

I think I had better give Steve McLaren a little bit of credit after I just saw his interview. There were many excuses he could have used, like the fact that 8 regular starters didn't start last night, the ridiculous amount of injured he's had, but he never said anything like that. He started off on fire as manager, crushing the European Champions 4-0 in his first game, shame it went down hill from there.

Apparently Harry Redknapp is also interested in the job, good news.

Capello for England ?! Sure he might be interested, but he is not the coach for knock-out competitions. For that, you need someone like Carlo or Hiddink ...


My bet would be either O'Neil or Shearer ... Seeing as they both know the English game well ..

I don't think the FA have much to do with this... no one has the balls to oppose to the EPL people and the way they run the league.


Don't make it sound like you beat some super team... Greece are the team that won the '04 Euro championship but they were certainly not the best team in Europe and were also in a bad shape at the time. Then again, it was England's failure to win the weaker teams that cost them the qualification...

It was a very good result, but meant nothing since it was a friendly.

O'Neill's been dismissing some of Villa's transfer speculation, but says "He's looking at loads of players, and wants to bring the best he can in, in January" Sounds to me like he's staying put.

^^^

kurt, you really are worried about this one aren't u? MON I mean.

Stewie Griffin all the way!!

I've never felt as good about the team for now and the future as I have under MON. He's well respected and the press love him, he'd be a huge loss. Not to mention how he's bought on some of our players. I'm sh!tting it to be honest.

I agree with Misha on this one, Stewie Griffin is the way to go!

Isn't Stewie Griffin the baby that wants to kill his mom?

Stewie Griffin FTW!

Well, Stewie has one less competitor (he's working awfully fast at eliminating the competition!).

BBC is reporting that Jose Mourinho has ruled himself out of the running for the England NT job.

link

O'Neill and Mourinho out of the running.

Capello is now favourite, with Harry Redknapp a close 2nd. Klinsmann is also on the list, yeah, over my dead body.

Big Mac resume:

2 season coaching Pointe-Claire U12...

i'm working on it guys

I go with the Canadian bloke. At least he'll come cheaper. Enough cash left over for the WAGs to go shopping.

hehhe if i'm voted in i promise to play as an AM behind the strikers so we can enjoy his lanky legs dribble past defenders!

job accepted

I wonder why no one talk about Klinsmann being a favourite. I was under the impression, he didn't want to coach anymore. It turns out that, he does.

Klinsmann has got the credentials, and his football is good to see. He also speaks perfect English, and is a former EPL player of the year. Would be a good move I think.

Of course, we all know how he is will goal keepers though. Perhaps just better than Domenech. And that is the problem England will have.

I think you'll find 99% of this country would rather have McClaren or no manager at all than Klinsmann. The FA know it'll be their heads if they appoint yet another manager the fans and press don't agree with.

Maybe that is one of the BIGGEST problems that revolve around why the national team isn't living up to the hype. IMO, England NT is gonna need a whole lot more to start winning competitions than thinking about what the press say or what the fans reaction would be.

Take a look at Italy, they were crucified time and time again from the press .. Their fans didn't believe it could be possible, and they won the world cup.

Milan is also another example, last season being the mother of all examples IMO, with the press and fans doubting this old team can pull it off ... But did the club care ?! Did the players stress on about it and gave up ?!



England is blessed with great players and all, but the challenge for glory would start when the FA start to disregard what the press print or what the fans call for .. I don't know a solution, as I lack a lot in terms of analyzing, BUT when a national team as BIG as England is constantly failing, it's easy to see where the problem(s) might be.

But Milan and Italy both have an Italian manager, there's no problem there. It's nothing to do with what the fans and press think, it's what they want. The FA didn't listen to us last time, and look what happened.

I wouldn't say England have constantly being failing either. It's not just our fans that hype us up, its everyone else. I don't see how 3 straight QF appearances is a failure myself, I was very proud of that acheivement, especially since two of those exits were through penalties.

I believe you need a motivational manager from your own country. Klinsmann to me is way off the man we need. 1) He's not English, not just that, he's German 2) he's had one job in his managerial career. Yes, he made the SFs of the World Cup, but it's alot easier when every game is at home. and 3) he just wouldn't be passionate enough about the England job. That's not exactly his fault, if I took the Germany job I wouldn't do my best either.

U missed my point, completely Kurt.

What I am saying is, what the FA need to do is get a manager despite what the general public think or how the press react to it the next day .... Kind of like what Milan does, we just fume and fume in here, but do the club care ?! They go from success to success without even taking us into consideration

On the England NT,No !!! quarter finals are not achievements, (u sound like an inter fan saying that ) ... quarter finals are what teams like Sweden or Denmark target (no offense to any Swedes or Danes)


the english FA has to change it's ways now ... They need someone who can blow some fresh air into the team, someone who can forge a team out of the brilliant players that you guys have ... And that someone doesn't have to get the press or fans blessing before he's appointed. <-- This is all I'm saying.


p.s. What has passion got to do with what we're talking about ?! If klinsmann were to consider the england job, he'd be giving it 100%, as it would add something to his CV. I mean, If Hiddink faces Holland in this EC, would he loose passion because he's playing against the Dutch

I'm a little surprised there's so much press indicating Capello as a favorite for the job. He's a top-class manager, sure enough, but it's my impression (and I may be wrong here) that the average English fan doesn't like 'defensive' football -- and really, Capello has almost always placed an emphasis on his teams' defense. There's also the personality thing - Capello is going to have no patience with the English press (with good reason, I think. No offense to Englishmen, but guys, your press is often very much like a pack of hyenas) and absolutely none with the personality cults around 'untouchable' players.

So...while he may be the most skilled coach for the job, I don't necessarily see him fitting in, as it were.

PS - I think the English stress on 'passion' is overdone. What England needs is a coach who can ensure the players are at least able to pass the damn ball effectively -- something they showed little evidence of being able to do in their last game with the lone exception of Beckham's pass in to Crouch. Passion and trying your hardest isn't going to do anyone a bit of good if your players just arent' up to it or if they care more for their 120K a week club paychecks than playing for their country.

Obviously you believe the hype then?

Making QFs shows you're one of the best teams in the World (Around 5th-8th) when you're ranked 12th, like the England NT has been around that mark for a while now, ii's a good thing. Obviously failing to make this tournement is a bad thing. And the difference between us making the SF of the last two tournements has been penalties. If you're saying this team is a failure because they lose a lottery, then that's an outrageous thing to say, that has nothing to do with how good the team is.


We pass the ball fine. It just so happens our last two games were played on plastic and mud. Not the best footballing surfaces.


English football is heavily based on defense. There are very few England teams that I can recall that have been very offensive. The fans have never seemed to mind it too much.

But Kurt there's a huge massive difference between English defense and Italian defense.

And the 'but we played on mud' defense re: Croatia isn't valid. The Croats were playing on the selfsame pitch and didn't have too much of an issue with passing.

What I'm saying -- and I don't mean to sound like I hate England, because I don't - is that I think that there's a general lack of technical skills in a lot of the English players. Yes, there are individuals who have skills but really...the most complete player is Gerrard. Lampard has a hell of a shot but not much else. Beckham is good at set pieces, but as a DM? Nah. Even Scholes, who I think is the best English midfielder still playing (though retired from internationals) can't tackle and never could. In honesty, I see more individual skill in the U21s. There are some good young players there. And more importantly, they actually seem to CARE that they're playing for their country and play as a cohesive unit.

I have to disagree with you there. Lampard is the most complete player we have. People tend to just agree with the media when it comes to Lampard as they love to hate him. The numbers for him last season showed why he was voted 2nd best player in the World not too long ago. He lead the team in tackles, crosses, pass completions among other things. Gerrard has the fortune of playing in a very average midfield with the likes of Pennant, Sissoko and others every week, which makes him look alot better. Lampard has to compete with the likes of Essien.

But 'skill' shouldn't come into it. Afterall, Italy won the World cup with De Rossi and Gatusso in the midfield.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'There's a massive difference between English defense and Italian defense'.

Kurt, Gattuso may not be the best passer of the ball, but he's damn good at tackling and winning balls off of other guys and in defending opposing danger men out of the game. You can't even compare his ability to do what he does to the English DMs like Hargreaves. Owen's good but Gattuso is a hell of a lot better.

You do need DMs in midfield, after all. Skill -- the ability to accurately pass the ball, to win the ball off of an opponent, to shut the opponent down, to create scoring opportunities, to save shots on goal or to put the ball in the net -- should absolutely come into it. Because it's skill that's going to win games in the long run. And that, I contend, is where the English NT as a whole is lacking.

Are there good players in the English NT? Yes, absolutely. Are any of them world-class? By my definition, no, with the possible exception of Beckham. I cannot honestly name any other English player who can consistently come in and change the course of a game. When Rooney can perform to the same sort of degree as an Inzaghi or a Trezeguet, then yes him too.

As for the difference between Italian and English defense...well, I think that Italian defense is on a much higher level in terms of training and individual skill than the English defense. Terry and Ferdinand are not at the same level as Italian CBs - even if you discount the aging trio of Cannavaro, Nesta, and Matrix - I still think that Barzagli and Chiellini are more skilled.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree in a big way on those.

Fair enough. I didn't think we would agree on this one, Kurt.

I do honestly think the technical skill thing is why England is suffering and will continue to suffer though. And fixing that is a long-term thing.

Making the quarter finals as the farthest the English NT has been sure doesn't deserve the hype that we are being forced to swallow

I'm saying this team is a failure because of the way it is run.

Look, you can huff and puff and assert whichever theory you see fit. All I'm saying is, the problem with the national team is clear (several of them which I have stated above ..) and it might not be the ONLY thing that the English nt suffer from.

p.s. I am not saying this because I have something against england nt or the players ... but i have always said there is something missing from that team. And after several failed attempts over the past decades, the team still fails to meet expectations.

i agree with you on lamps, gerrard and lamps dont work well together so who gets blamed? lamps? yet both are part of the problem.

de rossi wasnt a big part of italy's campaign tho, he played against ghana, played the first few minutes of the USA match and red carded and we dint see him till extra time in the final against france.

kurt you're saying, that the team ranked 12th seems to be good enough to finish among the top 8.

You're looking at this the wrong way.

Look at your team.

Mid-Field: Steven, Frank(you've just called them complete footballers), and considered by the press and pundits as among the best midfielders in the world. (I think they couldn't tie a lace of Pirlo's boots, but to say I'm biased is an understatement). Owen Hargreaves, Carrick, Beckham, Joe Cole , SWP etc. If you look at it, on paper say, compare it to France's midfield. Or even Italy's. Ok Italy might be a bit too much. Take France. I don't see miles of difference, at least when it comes to club level. Or take the Dutch even?? Surely you outclass them right??

Defence: Terry, Ferdinand. Everyone claims yet again, these are the best CBs in the world. As left back you have Ashley Cole. As right back, you got
Richards or Neville. What now? On paper, you got something as good as Italy. Surely Matrix + 34 yo Cannavaro cannot be greater than the gr8 Terry and Ferdinand. And don't even compare Spain's pathetic excuse of a defence with yours. I REPEAT on paper.


Attack: Ok, here you might be outmanned, but surely not outclassed. Rooney, Defoe, Crouch, Bent(18 mill??) and Owen. Maybe not the best in class, but on paper, you should be better than say a Portugal.

The only area where you can say you lack world class is at GK. Doesn't affect Portugal or Argentina or France (now). Ok Robinson this season is a joke.


kurt, the point that for a 12th ranked team you're finishing in the top 8 of a tournament is moot.

The point is that with players who are in the top 10 of the world, in almost every department, that you fall way behind to teams in matches AND in rankings.

for eg. Greece, Czech Republic, Croatia, Portugal, Netherlands is what you should wonder .

I mean honestly a team with Simic, is better than a team with Terry? Or are you saying Rooney has not answer to Simic.

This is why R7 and Tennie and now myself are bringing up points. What are the reasons.

Either like the 10ster says, your world class players are not truly world class, and lack technique.

Or like the Sheikh Daddy says, something is missing in your team, a spark, or maybe even genuine commitment. Something all your players are hotly denying.

The coach?? Don't really think so. We all agree Domenech is an idiot. Everyone here says my main man MvB is an inexperienced dork (did you know that dork means a whale's male genital...so anytime u call a guy a dork, you're just calling him a big pr!ck!! -> Think about it).


Maybe Scolari is a point. But for heaven's sake, your team is so much better than theirs. They got Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Deco. Of these, Ronaldo might be the one guy for whom the English midfield don't have an equal.

Their defence?? Puhleeze. Their attack?? Who Nuno Gomes or Pauletta. Even the Iberian will admit, his beloved Portugal on paper don't have the team to compare with Ingerlund.

Same is the case with Netherlands. So then why kurt? Why is England so below in 12th.


It's not that they're overperforming by being in 12th and making the QFs. It's that they've been underperforming for quite a while now by remaining in 12th, and with the team they got, they should go out to championship winners. Not some other also rans in the competition.


I hope I wasn't too harsh. It's just that at the moment, your cricket team (which sucks) still gives pound for pound more fight than your hyped up football team.

And don't even go into hype and media pressure.. Let's not go there. I was talking with a guy from Brazil.

What happens in Brazil and Argentina, that's hype! That's media and fan pressure. England cannot hide behind this as an excuse for poor performance.

I do agree with some of what you're saying.

Like you said, goalkeeping is our worst position. Look at the games we lost in qualifying.

@ Croatia: Robinson completey misses the ball - They win 2-0.
@ Russia: Robinson parries the ball right in front of the Russian striker, who has an open goal.
vs Croatia: Carson allows the ball to bounce in front og him and doesn't react quickly enough - It goes in.

I must honestly say I can't recall many times where we've lost a game in moral circumstances. It's our keeper that hurts us. We lose so many games because of them, just look at our game vs germany, another Robinson howler. The last time we exited a competition without the need of penalties? A Seaman howler.

Obviously this isn't ALL of our problems, just part of it.

The keepers had nothing to do with our 0-0 draws with Israel or Macedonia, with no disrespect intended, they're games we should be winning. The problem there? I just don't know. We can't seem to break teams down, I don't know what that is because of. I think some of the players can be accused of not giving 100% effort. I'm not sure why this is, maybe some of them are sick of being bood by their own 'fans', others may be more concerned about their next club match. But it's clearly evident with some of them.

I think we have a few World class players. Gerrard and Lampard is the obvious cases. Drogba was useless for Chelsea for the first 18 months, Lampard carried them in an attacking sense. Gerrard took Liverpool to 2 CL Finals, when in m opinion, the rest of their squad has been very average in recent years. The only other players I would put in the World Class category would be JT, Beckham and Rooney. But they have their flaws. JT and Rooney have injury problems, they're not always going to be fit. Beckham, while having superb set-peice and crossing ability, can no longer run, at all. I wouldn't consider any of our other players World Class, maybe very good, but not the very best the World has to offer.

So there's my reasons.
Kepeers, commitment and not enough World Class players. Agree or disagree, that's just my opinion.

As for comparing us to other nations. I believe Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Holland, Brazil and Argentina are equal to/better than we are. Every other team we play, we should draw/beat!

P.S. Cricket team!? They're a joke! At the moment we have Lewis Hamilton, Ricky Hatton and the Rugby team that're some of the best in the World. That's about it thoguh.

And Andy Flintoff.

I hate him but he's still ur best bet.

The title is a little misleading, he's hardly asking for the job.

If the FA offer it to him, I think he may take it, if he's not their first choice 1) Every member of the FA should get fired and 2) It will be our loss.

By whom??

Goal.com



I wouldn't be surprised if the Engalnd players did think the coach of the NT was there just to bring out the cones and balls ... If Lampard and Gerrard are constantly being fielded, despite the results that Gerrard and Barry have drawn in .. Yeah, I guess Adams has a point there


Sad, but true ... I hope the next coach drills the players to the ground. Benches the the ones who are too hyped up to play and shows the players how to play on the highest level, in case they forget !

At least Mourinho will provide some entertainment to the job. Everyone would be waiting for the press conferences. I wonder if can top the eggs speach...

Tony Adams has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to players and their managers.

I think people look too much into technical ability, too. I really don't feel England, Germany or many eastern European teams play like that at all. To me they play a quicker tempo of football and don't let their opponents settle down, I think it does make a difference that players from those nations aren't "one job" players.

Mourinho seemed to do well enough at Chelsea with a bunch of talentless English players, hopefully he can do the same with the NT where he'll have even more useless players to work with.

How do you know he has no idea what he's talking about ?! .... Maybe because he doesn't hype the NT up, like the rest ?!



The game has developed since the 50s Kurt ... Hell, no one can play a quicker tempo than Brazil, still they stand alone in the technical aspect .. So I don't see ur point here ... and one job players are usually called 'professional footballers'



Well, out of the useless English footballers, he had Terry and Lampard as key players for him .. Joe Cole and SWP played nearly every two games, so .. And most notably, Mourinho would look outside of England for players ..

I don't understand why you refer to them as useless, but if ur gonna go with it, then so am I

It has nothing to do with hyping them up. He tends to think English players have a lack of respect for their managers. When in reality nobody respected and looked upto Jose more than JT and Lampard. Uniteds players (Neville, Scholes, Rooney, Hargeaves, Carrick included) see SAF as some sort of God, and rightfully so.


Playing a quick tempo isn't just what you do with the ball, but what you do off it. They don't close players down when not in posession, they back off and let their opponents play.

Since we're talking about football, I think they can all be considered professional footballers, I just don't think you understood what I was saying at all. What I mean by a 'one job' player is like Ronaldinho or Emerson. They do one job, that's it. Ronaldinho can't defend, Emerson can't attack and that's a difference I find between some nations and the likes of England and Germany. Ballack can attack AND defend, as can Gerrard.


Glenn Johnson, Wayne Bridge, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Joe Cole, Shaun Wright-Philiips, Steve Sidwell, Frank Lampard - He had his fair share of English players in the team. Admittedly, only 5 of those got regular first team football at Chelsea.


Because that's what everybody else thinks of them?

No I don't think technical ability is such a big of an issuse for the England NT. But you brought up another interesting point! The tempo IS a big issue... I mean, to me it seems like the English players only know of one way to function and that is the fast-paced way. If the opposing team manage to survive the eruptions and subsequently control the tempo of the game then England are at a loss...

It's the same for EPL too. I've never watched a slow tempo game. Even when teams close down in defence there's still pace and speed in the game. I remember last season's visit of Manchester at the San Siro when Ronaldo and co. looked like a bunch of stupid AI-driven video-game models... On the other hand, I've seen many fast-paced games in Serie A where mostly the tempo is low.

Then again it has always been an issue of mentality for me. The Spain NT have this tempo-adapting quality and still can't make it...

I pretty much agree with what you're saying, and I appreciate the intelligent look at things rather than "England are crap, simple as that" kind of attitude. Every team has their own traits, and in turn they have their own flaws. No team, except for Brazil can say they've always been that good, even in recent teams so called giants like England, Italy and Germany have been very disappointing at tournements. When it comes to international football pretty much everything has to be right. You need the right players to fit in with the managers system, you need those players to be at the top of their game and to know their team-mates well. The last few World Cup winners have shown that to me!

Right on the money.

He meant the NT manager .. He is saying that the players go to the NT and already expect to be in the first XI setup ... Managers like SAF and Mourinho wouldn't hear of such conduct



Yes I did understand u ... But it is not true that the likes of England and Germany are of the only countries in the world with such players. You can find them everywhere, in Italy you have Zambrotta, Pirlo and De Rossi off the top of my head ... and on and on and on in almost all the leagues you'll find players like that .. So I don't think it is anything special. Though it does add more to the side, it is based on what type of coach uses such players in his set-up and how he uses him ... I don't mean just playing these players because they are (as u say) 'one job', but bring a coach who knows how to effectively put these qualities to good use.




Those were Mourinho's first choices, the rest were either rotated in or just sat the bench.



Everyone ?!

I think you need to take a chill pill on this one ..... No one thinks they are useless, on the contrary, Beckham, Gerrard, Terry, and Owen are players of experience and I do rate experience higher than anything else ... Problem is, the hype that surrounds th England NT as a whole.

And when they fail (which they did), surely you'd expect people to turn on that hype ... as simple as that. You don't need to defend them, as it isn't an insult .. On the contrary, it should be the attitude of the England fans from now on, as to push your team to success. But just sitting back and listening to everyone hyping them up again from the commentary to us here in Milanfan, surely that would only cause Deja Vu And they aren't exactly God's git to football.


p.s. Don't take things as an offense Kurt, I don't mean to offend u or direct anything at you ... Neither m1ke nor Ash complain ... As, over here, we are talking about football .. Has nothing to do with national pride and all ..

Well, Stewie Griffin is being very effective in getting rid of the competition.

The Special One has ruled himself out of the job. link

"After deep and serious thinking, I decided to exclude myself from being England manager.

"I'm sure the FA will hire a great manager, one able to place the team back where it belongs."

So who're the next best candidates? The tone of the BBC articles indicates a certain reticence about the Italians (Lippi/Capello) because of style of play and the fact that neither speak very good English. Klinsmann is mentioned but would he be interested? Who's left?