FA rule out joint-manager appointment

THE Football Association insist they will follow a conventional path to finding Sven-Goran Eriksson’s replacement and will appoint one full-time head coach of the England team.

There have been suggestions that some FA figures favour appointing two coaches, such as Stuart Pearce and Alan Curbishley, but who would both remain employed by their clubs and work alongside a director of football such as Trevor Brooking.

However, that scenario has been emphatically ruled out by the FA and chief executive Brian Barwick is expected to deliver his shortlist to the five-man selection panel around the end of the month.

Martin O’Neill, viewed as a domestic rather than foreign appointment by Barwick despite being an Ulsterman, remains the favourite but if he is offered the job he may have to agree to use the likes of Pearce as an assistant in order to groom the Man City boss as a future England manager.

It is thought O’Neill would also want to include John Robertson and Steve Walford, his assistants at Leicester and Celtic, among the backroom staff.