O’Neill not in England contention
Although FA chief executive Brian Barwick has been given more freedom to find McClaren’s successor than he had when Sven-Goran Eriksson announced his impeding departure less than two years ago, there is still a preference for a ‘home-grown’ candidate should a suitable applicant be found.
Given Alan Shearer has no management experience whatsoever, Harry Redknapp admits he is unlikely to be asked, Alan Curbishley, Sam Allardyce and Mark Hughes have ruled themselves out and current England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce was hardly a success at Manchester City, O’Neill is the most plausible option.
However, while the Aston Villa manager, who was interviewed for Eriksson’s job, jokingly declared he would be ‘brilliant’ at the job, he made it clear he does not want it.
“I was on the short-list last time, I was interviewed for the job and I didn’t get it,” he said.
“I suppose my name would occur again but no-one has contacted me and I wouldn’t expect anyone to do so this early in proceedings. But, let me tell you, I have a commitment here to Aston Villa.”
It is certainly not the news Barwick would want to hear when he lands in Durban for tomorrow’s 2010 World Cup qualifying draw and will ensure the focus falls even further on Jose Mourinho.
However the feeling persists that Mourinho is waiting for another top club job to become available and has already previously suggested the only national coaching role he would be interested in at a later stage of his career is that of his native Portugal.
It is inconceivable Mourinho will not be asked the question, if only because he is currently available, a situation which could change at any point.
The other two obvious overseas candidates, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Guus Hiddink, who ironically profited from England’s demise this week, are contracted to Portugal and Russia to the end of Euro 2008 respectively.
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