FA insist England manager search is being done ‘urgently’

Former England captain Terry Butcher has already labelled it a farce, the rest of us, tired of the false dawns, over-inflated egos and annuals disappointment of anything to do with the England team, are waiting for it to descend into one.

More conflicting messages are leaking from out of the FA as they continue their hunt for Fabio Capello’s successor.

Last Friday FA general Secretary Alex Horne said a new boss would not come until the "back end of the season", which means precious little Live Football time for the manager to form a winning side ahead of Euro 2012.

In their defence, with most top managers in employment, they are perhaps left with little choice, but they also need to ensure that when they do make an approach, they know the answer will be yes – remember ‘Big’ Phil Scolari’s embarrassing rejection of the job (though that was the press’ fault as much as anything).

In response to Horne’s claims, FA chairman David Bernstein has since come out and stressed that they are actively seeking a new manager, telling reporters:

"Under no circumstances should our taking time be seen as anything other than dealing with it professionally and urgently,"

"We don't believe rushing this process is going to be good for arriving at the right conclusion. We are also doing this treating clubs and managers with the greatest of respect, we don't want to disrupt the season of the clubs.

"Most of the people we are looking at are in positions and whatever we do we ought to try and do it in a way which enables clubs to finish their season with the minimum of disruption.”

Clearly any appointment will have to now wait until May, but that doesn’t mean groundwork can be put in place. It appears the biggest battle the FA have it making any approaches without alerting the press, as that would cause a media storm, disrupting the chosen candidates and their club, potentially leading to the boss in question rejecting the FA’s offer.

Harry Redknapp is the favourite in the football betting, but Spurs will resist any approach until at least the end of the season.

It is clearly a delicate balancing act but one the supporters are weary of already. Years of under-achievement and let downs mean goodwill for the England team appears low, meaning the powers that be need an inspired appointment to get everyone back onside.
No wonder they are taking their time.