Foreign threat to Harry Redknapp's ambition of becoming next England manager

06 December 2010 17:10
National service: Redknapp could be England boss[LNB]Harry Redknapp has been recognised by the Football Association as a possible replacement for Fabio Capello - but he could yet find he's up against foreign opposition for the role of England manager. [LNB]Senior FA officials have expressed a desire to go with an Englishman when Capello steps down in the summer of 2012, and FA general secretary Alex Horne says Tottenham boss Redknapp is a strong contender. [LNB]But Horne expressed a significant policy shift yesterday when he said that they would target the best individual and not necessarily limit themselves to English candidates. [LNB]'Harry Redknapp is a great manager,' said Horne. 'Tottenham are playing great football and to qualify well for the Champions League (knockout stage) from a position of being fourth favourites in the group is huge testimony to that. I would expect Harry to make a long-list (for the job). It may not be a very long long-list.' [LNB]Talking to the BBC, Horne said the FA would take the first steps in searching for a successor to Capello early next year. 'Fabio's there until 2012 which gives me 18, 19 months to prepare for that process,' he said. 'It is not a policy decision that they (the contenders) would be English. It is an absolute preference for certain individuals. It is not yet a board decision.[LNB] 'We thought about this long and hard when we got Fabio Capello. We got the right man for the job and that is what we will do again. It is not a policy decision that they will definitely be English. I will be finalising the selection process criteria during the first few months of next year for internal discussion.' [LNB]Horne was in Zurich to witness the disappointment of England's failure to host the 2018 World Cup and he insists he will push for a reform of FIFA's bidding process. [LNB] Calling for reform: General Secretary of the FA, Alex Horne[LNB]'I think the process could have sensible reform,' he said. 'Any election process or procurement process should be open to review and I would like to talk to other people around the game about how we might review that process. [LNB]'For example a cap on expenditure in the campaign, so for nine bidders to go all the way to Zurich isn't necessary. [LNB]'There could be pre-elimination rounds. I think there are other ways to look at the process, not just bidding one year at a time. I am personally, hugely disappointed. I think there is a need for process reform, certainly a review of process so I will be talking to FIFA about it, yes.' [LNB]But Horne did think a breakaway of disgruntled national federations was unlikely.[LNB]Future FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce has admitted England should have been told their bid to host the World Cup in 2018 was likely to end in failure. [LNB]Northern Irishman Boyce, who replaces Geoff Thompson on the FIFA executive committee in 2011, said: 'It did appear England had the best bid. But it appears that FIFA wish to take the event to countries that haven't had it. If this is their criteria then that should be made clear very early on.'[LNB] Spurs boss Redknapp in contention as FA consider next England managerBirmingham 1 Spurs 1: Struggling Crouch should follow the lead of ZigicJordan should have fronted England's World Cup bid, says RedknappTOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FC

Source: Daily_Mail