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FA refuse to rule out foreign boss
Football Association chairman David Bernstein admits the next England manager will ideally be English or British but must above all be “the best person” available.
The confirmation that the FA will consider overseas candidates, or even Scottish, Irish or Welsh candidates, may be seen as surprising, given it was widely expected that they would train the focus on finding the best English candidate available.
But when asked on Thursday if the new manager would be English, Bernstein said at a Wembley press conference: “No, he will not definitely be English. Clearly there’s a preference for an Englishman. The position hasn’t changed. There’s a preference for an English person or a British person but in the end we want the best person.”
He added: “So I’m not prepared to rule out anything at this stage.
“Clearly an English or British person would have a good start on the matter.”
Bernstein said the FA was “open-minded” when it comes to the appointment of the next boss, and did not rule out an initial part-time role.
He said: “We don’t want to rush anything. There’s no need to rush anything. We’ll give it proper consideration and it’ll have high priority.”
Sitting alongside FA general secretary Alex Horne, director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking and England managing director Adrian Bevington, Bernstein continued: “It’ll be dealt with by the four of us. We’ve cleared diaries for tomorrow to start working on this.”
Bernstein was keen not to get drawn into speculation over who could replace Capello in the long term, but promised the FA would act as swiftly as possible.
“I’m not going to go into discussions on individuals,” he said. “We will do this as quickly and sensibly as we can but don’t want to rush the process. We want to to it properly, do it professionally. We will put a shortlist together of key people. We will do it as soon as we can. It will be a major priority for us.”
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Wednesday 30 May 2012
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