KENYON WARNS ENGLAND OFF
MOURINHO
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon says Blues boss Jose Mourinho
will not become the next England coach.
Sven-Goran Eriksson is leaving after this summer's World Cup, and
the Football Association is keen to name his successor before the
tournament.
"Mourinho has made it clear he's not interested and we'd make it
quite clear we are not interested in letting him go," Kenyon told
BBC Radio Five Live.
"He likes Chelsea, he and his family like London, and he is very
happy."
A host of names have been linked with the post, including Sam
Allardyce, Alan Curbishley, Steve McClaren, Martin O'Neill, Guus
Hiddink and Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Former England boss Sir Bobby Robson, now working in the Republic
of Ireland set-up, said he would prefer to see an Englishman
appointed to the role.
"I would very much like to think it would go English. I'm very keen
about that," he told BBC Radio Five Live.
"We've got some strong candidates in this country at this moment
who are doing a great job in a very difficult league.
"The Premiership is one of the most difficult and hardest leagues
there is in Europe - you could say, arguably, the best.
"And we've got some good English lads who are doing a great job
with their respective clubs in that league."
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson has said Boro boss
Steve McClaren is too inexperienced to be England manager.
"Steve has been a football manager for four years and we've had two
years in the Uefa Cup. He is not a realistic candidate," he told
the Independent on Sunday.
West Brom boss Bryan Robson, however, says he would be
interested.
"I'd seriously consider it. I feel I have the necessary experience
after nine years of management," he told the Daily Star.
Reading boss Steve Coppell is among those to rule himself out of
contention, saying people who had bet on him were wasting their
money.
Bobby Robson urged the FA to appoint someone with plenty of
experience, pointing out his 14 years at Ipswich before becoming
England boss.
"Every day I worked with the players. I found youngsters and I had
time to develop the players," he said.
"That's the sort of manager we need. At the same time we need a
good name, we need a strong personality and you'll find that
combination if you look long enough."
Meanwhile, Eriksson has said it would be a huge handicap if his
successor was not able to speak English.
Portugal boss Scolari - out of contract after the World Cup - is
the only one of the main contenders who does not speak
English.
Eriksson said: "When I went to Portugal in 1982 I couldn't speak
any Latin languages and that was a huge handicap.
"You have to work with an interpreter and the one I had was very
good in Swedish and Portuguese but he didn't know anything about
football. He didn't know if the ball was square.
"I used Swedish football terms that he had never heard and I could
see the players when he translated looked confused.
"It's a huge handicap if you don't speak the language in the job
and in daily life. You may be out at dinner and you are sitting
like a new-born child, you don't understand anything.
- credit: BBC
Sport
