England football can wait for manager choice: Brooking

01 March 2012 12:46

England can afford to leave the appointment of a manager until the eve of the European Championships if necessary, Football Association director Trevor Brooking believes.

Brooking, who is part of the panel that will identify and appoint the successor to Fabio Capello, insisted that England would be able to wait until a few days before Euro 2012 to appoint a coach.

"Everything will be in place," Brooking was quoted as saying in The Independent on Thursday following England's 3-2 defeat to the Netherlands.

"The backroom staff is very good. Whoever comes in will be really happy with that. The issue is the timing, that is why we don't think we are in any rush.

"I think you could get somebody parachuted in a few days before it, though I'm sure there are some people in our group who don't want that."

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is the strong favourite to get the England job, but the Spurs boss has ruled out leaving the club before the end of the season, meaning FA chiefs must wait until mid-May if they choose him.

Brooking said the hunt for a manager would be give fresh momentum now that Wednesday's friendly against the Dutch had passed.

"We've been concentrating on the Holland game," he said. "Now we'll sit down in the next few days and see what the timeframe is.

"We will take our time. I don't see anything happening soon. We obviously want to be aware of all the sensitivities before taking it forward. There are sensitivities."

Source: AFP