London: England is likely to name its new football coach this week, and Middlesbrough's Steve McClaren is expected to get the job.
After Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari turned England down last week, the Football Association appears certain to appoint a British coach to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson after the World Cup.
McClaren, who has guided Middlesbrough to its first European Cup final, is the odd-on favourite with bookmakers at 1-6. Other candidates include Bolton's Sam Allardyce (5-1), free agent Martin O'Neill (12-1) and Charlton's Alan Curbishley (16-1).
The FA Board is due to meet tomorrow, and there is strong speculation that the three-men panel will announce its decision then.
"I'm not commenting on that," McClaren said after Middlesbrough's 0-0 tie with Manchester United on Monday. "My job is to focus on Middlesbrough and get the club results. I'm looking forward to it (England coach situation) being settled one way or the other."
McClaren, who is Eriksson's assistant coach and was No 2 to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, received an endorsement from the Red Devils manager.
"Steve is well qualified for the job, as quite a few others are, but I think the thing in his favour is that he also has the knowledge of the England camp because he has been
in the camp for a few years now," Ferguson said.
Allardyce, who has openly campaigned for the England job, acknowledged that McClaren is the favourite.
"He will be looking to clinch that position, but who knows?" Allardyce said. "I haven't given up hope that it is going to me. It just does not look as though I am the favourite at the moment. I am still keeping my fingers crossed. I have not heard anything officially but we should know by the end of the week."
The three-month search to find a replacement for Eriksson, who is stepping down after five years in the job, has been troublesome for the FA.
O'Neill, who left his job at Glasgow Celtic a year ago to be with his sick wife, was the initial strong favourite along with PSV Eindhoven's Guus Hiddink.
Hiddink, who led both the Netherlands and South Korea to the World Cup semifinals and is coaching Australia at next month's World Cup in Germany, is taking charge of Russia instead.
McClaren seemed to slide out of contention after some poor league results, including a 7-0 loss at Arsenal and 4-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, left 'Boro close to relegation trouble.
But the team climbed out up the table and reached the FA Cup semifinal, as well as the May 10 UEFA Cup final against Sevilla in Eindhoven.
Scolari, who led Brazil to its fifth World Cup triumph in 2002, seemed certain to take over last week when FA chief executive Brian Barwick flew to Lisbon to offer him the job.
But he turned it down, citing too much pressure from the English media.
Comments
0 comment