The chairman of the Football Association, David Bernstein is causing some people to worry about his decision to pick the next manager of theEnglandteam. The announcements recently by Fabio Capello that he would be leaving the team should have sounded alarms with many people as he departed with the words, “I am very interested to see who is going to come and replace me.” In retrospect it is clear to see that this was a power-play that Mr Capello was very much enjoying.
The decision to let Mr Capello go seems to be a more foolish one with each passing week.Englandhave experienced their first defeat in over 15 months since the manager’s departure and it was even at Wembley Stadium. The question many people are going to be asking themselves is why would a great manager go to work for the FA. Most football managers who are any good are already in employment and don’t really fancy going anywhere else.
Additionally, it is usually preferred that a native person takes the role of manager of theEnglandteam, but this is probably going to be impossible. The simple fact of the matter for the FA is that there isn’t a brilliant English manager just sitting at home waiting to be called up to manage the team. Furthermore, it has also been announced that the new manager is going to be being paid half the amount the Capello was getting. Considering all of these facts, it seems increasingly unlikely that a good replacement manager is going to be found for Capello.
It seems that Mr Bernstein thinks he is important enough to have the power to draw Harry Redknapp away from Tottenham Hotspur. It seems entirely improbable that Mr Redknapp would wish to move from this team to Wembley and he has not shown any interest in taking on the position just yet. The only person who is remotely qualified for the job who has come forward is Stuart Pearce, this is going to be bitterly disappointing to Mr Bernstein. Furthermore, Mr Pierce withdrew his application after just six weeks, stating that he was no longer interested in the job.
The FA have said that they have a shortlist of around five names that they are considering but many people are wondering who could possibly be on this list. There has been no announcement about the names and the FA have not issued a statement. The director of football development for the FA is Sir Trevor Brooking and he has stated that he would be able to work with Mr Redknapp if he was made the manager of the team despite professional differences they have had in the past.
The FA have said that there have not been any discussions about who they want to make the next manager of England, but the fact that Sir Trevor needed to make the statement seems rather contradictory to this point. If there had been no discussions then why would he feel it necessary to announce that he would not have a problem working with Redknapp. This should be a simple appointment, but the FA and particularly Mr Bernstein, have turned the whole affair into a fiasco and something that doesn’t look like it will be sorted out in the near future.