We rate the contenders for the vacant post.
Harry Redknapp – Tottenham
Redknapp is the odds on favourite for the post. What he has in his favour is the support of most players who will be in the team. Never before would there have been such unanimous support for the new coach if selected. But the problem is that this has happened before. When Capello arrived we were delighted a disciplinarian was in to keep the players in line. Then now we want someone who will put an arm around their shoulder.
Redknapp is clearly a great man manager who can get the best out of the team, but he is also a manager who didn’t know Gareth Bale was half decent until he accidentally stumbled across his talent. Sure it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out England’s best players, but can he really pick out the stars of tomorrow who will guide us to glory?
Roy Hodgson – West Brom
Hodgson is the ying to Redknapp’s yang. More tactically focused, more rigorous, Hodgson is a man who has been around and knows international football better than Redknapp. He understands international competitions and had significant success with Switzerland. No doubt he would get England playing well – if he was able to impart his ideas. He wasn’t able to do that at Anfield and the England job would be similar to the one at Liverpool. A crowd impatient for glory, with talented players who may lack the patience or will to stick to his ideas and hear him out. He could do a very good job if he comes in, but he’d need to do it without the big names, because he may struggle to get them to adhere to his tactics.
Jose Mourinho – Real Madrid
Mourinho has already said he wants to leave Real Madrid this summer and return to England. It was assumed that meant the Premier League but could it mean the England manager’s position? Just maybe. Mourinho would clearly command the respect of the players and if anyone could get them to play the way he wants, it is surely Mourinho. The former Chelsea man has the respect of players like John Terry and would be able to impart complex tactical instructions on them in a way few other managers would be able to. He would undoubtedly be a good choice – but would he be as much of a success without daily interaction with his players? For a manager whose philosophy is so deeply ingrained in the tactical side of the game, maybe not.
Pep Guardiola – Barcelona
Guardiola could also leave Spain this summer as he seems likely to be leaving Barcelona at some point in the next year or two. But England? Unlikely. He is a manager who is meticulous like Mourinho, but with an approach anathema to English players. He would want them playing the ball on the floor, passing quickly and pressing as a unit. Imparting such discipline on an England team without those attributes would be difficult, whilst like Mourinho he may struggle to make an impact tactically without day to day contact.
Guus Hiddink – unattached
Unlike Guardiola and Mourinho Hiddink is actually available and is proven with international teams. A coach who has taken Australia to a World Cup, South Korea and Holland to World Cup semi finals and Russia to the European Championship semi finals, he can get the best out of a team. Like Mourinho, he has the stature to garner the respect of the players and may have more success than Capello in getting them to accept his ideas. His short passing style may not be perfectly suited to the team but if he can select the right players he could have success. A good option, and perhaps the most likely after Redknapp.
Laurent Blanc – France
As a left field candidate, why not get the coach of our opponents in the first game of Euro 2012 and screw up their preparations instead? Unlike Capello, France seem actively to be looking for replacements for Blanc whilst he is still in his position. Paul le Guen and Arsene Wenger have been mooted, so the Bordeaux coach could jump ship.
He had a good qualifying campaign with France, pulling together a divided squad after their disastrous World Cup in 2010. He also showed toughness when not picking a single player involved in the World Cup for his first friendly game, and was also the coach who broke up Bordeaux’s dominance of French football two years ago. Unlikely, but he could have success with England.
