Wasting little time after this morning’s hotly anticipated termination of England manager Steve McClaren, The Times’ Matt Dickinson writes, “we must conclude that there is not a single Englishman worthy of leading the national team.”
We must presume that the FA will look overseas, but there is a dark horse in all of this: Alan Shearer, even though he has never coached a team except while studying for his FA badges. Nor had Jürgen Klinsmann (above) when he took over Germany and he led them to the World Cup semi-finals. As a former goalscoring hero, Shearer would be a popular choice and the FA has always been a sucker for that.
But whereas Klinsmann never had to fret over qualification, Shearer would have a few friendly matches to learn the ropes before being tossed into tense, competitive matches. Something for him to think about if the FA does ask him to climb off the comfortable pundits™ couch.
And is the FA ready to take a risk on a novice, having seen McClaren fail to qualify at a loss to the organisation of at least £10 million. Or does it start scouring again for another foreign coach? Klinsmann is unemployed and waiting in California for a decent offer. He would not be cheap and would demand to bring a small army of coaches, but he would brighten up the place with his positive thinking. And the England fans probably would accept anyone if it turns around the team™s fortunes.
In his programme notes last night, Geoff Thompson, the FA chairman, said: œLet™s make tonight a night that will live long in the memory. In one way he was correct. We will never forget it. Defeat finished McClaren. Saviour of English football required ” even if he is German.
In other managerial news, former QPR manager Ian Holloway has tendered his resignation at Plymouth Argyle after being approached by Leicester City. The great thing about most news items concerning Ollie is that term “gardening leave” continues to be tossed around as though it’s ever been applied to another manager. Well, other than Steve Bruce.