I was bemused to read in some newspapers on Friday morning that the Football Association has widened its search for a new manager to include Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho and Barcelona's Pep Guardiola.
There is absolutely no way either of those two are going to manage England. It's a poisoned chalice, and with the reputations they have, why would either want to come and work for the FA and manage this underachieving and underwhelming group of players?
You could bring back Sir Alf Ramsey, or any of the coaches who have won the World Cup throughout history, and they are not going to win anything with this England team. That would be like getting an expert builder to try and construct a house without using cement. The FA might well be setting their sights high and looking at La Liga's two leading coaches, but as for suggestions they might be tempted, it's absolute garbage.
Employing someone like Mourinho will not address the underlying problems in the English game, and in any case he is not an international manager. Is he really going to want to work for only 10 games a year? Of course not, he loves the day in, day work involvement of a club coach. And as for Guardiola, is he really going to swap working with Lionel Messi for Stewart Downing? It is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that this is a possibility.
At the moment we have to build for the future. Instead of trying to buy in one of the world's best managers, we should invest money in coaxing the best foreign coaches to come and work with our young players from Under-16 level and improve technique from an early age. That is where we need to be making investment.
The Dutch pay thousands to their ex-players to work with their elite youngsters. As a child, having the opportunity to be coached by someone like Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit or Frank Rijkaard must be fantastic, and it shows in the final product.
To be honest, talk of Mourinho and Guardiola could be a smokescreen from the FA, because at present their negotiating position with Tottenham is disastrous, especially when dealing with someone like Daniel Levy who relishes driving a hard bargain.
Everyone knows it is going to be Harry Redknapp. Spurs know Harry is worth a fortune because of what he has achieved, and the press and public have made him into the people's champion. Tottenham will make the FA pay through the nose as a result.
Harry might get parachuted in in time for the Euros but does he know enough about international football? Will he be able to settle in straight away and be the leader England need at a major tournament? I still think there are question marks about Harry and we are putting all our eggs in one basket.
As for whether the FA is acting swiftly enough, I think we have to wait and see. The next couple of weeks will be crucial and what happens at Tottenham will have a big bearing.
If things drag on much longer then the likelihood that Stuart Pearce will be in charge for the Euros will increase. Stuart has said he doesn't want the job full-time but that he is prepared to lead England at the finals if necessary. He has to say that really as he is an ambitious person and he is honest. If the FA can't get someone in before the tournament then he will take on the responsibility.
I thought he did fine at Wembley on Wednesday against Netherlands. It was good to see that we changed to a 4-3-3, and it was good to see we were trying younger players, even if that process could still be accelerated.
To be frank, we shouldn't be talking about winning the Euros. We should be talking about building a team for the future and Ithink a new start is desirable. By naming a young squad, Stuart has started something that hopefully will be continued by the new man.
We should be asking what value players like John Terry and Steven Gerrard bring to the team and demonstrate that we are ready to put the past behind us. If Gerrard isn't going to be captain then why have him in the team? There is a player like Jack Rodwell who can perform that role and is young and fresh. I don't even want to hear Terry's name any more. He can have a European holiday if he wants, but he shouldn't be going to the Euros.
I think if the public see there is a vision for the future, and that Pearce's work is being continued by the new man, they will get behind the national side. If we go back to how things have been over the past few competitions then I don't think there is any way forward for us.
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