When the FA meet to draw up a shortlist for the next England manager there should be two major requirements - a thick skin and huge, huge balls.

This job has become such an albatross, such a poisoned chalice, that the length of a CV or the willingness to tow the party line shouldn't even be a consideration. No more mistakes, this time they have to get it right.

If the ridiculously lofty expectations of the England team are to be justified then middle-of-the-road Premier League bosses won't cut it. For a big job you need a big man, a really big one.

Steve McClaren, good coach though he may have been, was never that man - it was painfully obvious from the start.

When he did make big decisions they were generally the wrong ones at the wrong time, as if almost bowing to public pressure.

The decision to drop David Beckham immediately appeared to stamp him as a man of conviction, but even that went Pete Tong as "Golden Balls" enjoyed a remarkable renaissance.

On the pitch McClaren failed miserably to produce performances out of players who are reputedly world-class.

So now, just 15 months after the departure of Sven-Goran Eriksson, Brian Barwick and co again begin the search.

In Eriksson they found someone with a big reputation who produced results to match, at least in qualifying. And to a certain extent he had the thick skin needed to succeed. At least they have that knowledge to work with.

I don't think for a minute that Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson would go within a mile of the job, but that's the sort of person they have to be looking at.

Somebody who is totally confident in their own plan, and can deal with the savage British media.

Jose Mourinho, currently out of a job, would appear to be the perfect candidate - a man who has succeeded at the top level and has the personality and bravado to thrive and not wither under the media spotlight.

The only caveat to that is that Mourinho appears to be a man who wants total control over any project he undertakes.

Can you really believe he'd enjoy waiting on a Saturday night to find out which players he'd be able to pick on a Wednesday?

Last time out of course the FA courted Big Phil Scolari before he balked at the job.

And the failure to land Guus Hiddink will feel even more painful with his Russia team now heading for Euro 2008 instead of McClaren's England.

Those sort of names, with reputations beyond reproach and results to match, are also sure to be mentioned.

And in the last 48 hours I've started to think that another route could be the one to succeed.

When Alan Shearer was talked up as a potential McClaren successor over the weekend I was incredulous.

But the more you think about it, the less ridiculous it seems.

Taking a top international player with little or no managerial experience hasn't worked so badly for Holland and Germany.

If the examples of Frank Rijkaard, Jurgen Klinsmann and Marco van Basten are anything to go by, then international playing experience can translate into managerial success.

And as international football and club football are two very different games, the "horses for courses" theory should hold some water.

But above all, England must think big with their next appointment.

Big man, big ideas and above all, big balls.

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