New England Manager

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Big Phil Scolari offered England post

Former England assistant coach Don Howe believes there are more positives than negatives to be taken from the Football Association's bid to appoint Luiz Felipe Scolari as Sven-Goran Eriksson's successor.

The FA were in Lisbon on Wednesday for face-to-face talks with Portugal boss Scolari and are reported to have offered him the England job.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick and lawyer Simon Johnson are understood to have met the Brazilian after being granted permission by the Portuguese FA.

Scolari, out of contract after the World Cup finals, has tried to distance himself from speculation linking him to the England job.

But he appears to have leapt ahead of the other candidates on the shortlist after at least one member of the selection panel changed his mind about wanting a British manager to replace Eriksson.

Howe told BBC Sport: 'I suppose I'm like a lot of people in the country in that we all thought this time we'd be getting a British England coach - Martin O'Neill, Sam Allardyce, Alan Curbishley, Steve McClaren, I think all of those could have done the job.

'I don't know if Scolari is better but all you can do is go on reputation and he won the World Cup with Brazil, and if he's good at handling experienced international players, with the big names they've got in Brazil, then so be it.

'I think why he was impressive with Brazil in the last World Cup was that he handled them well and he was tactically very clever. He could swap the team around during the 90 minutes of play.

'He was very good at seeing things going on out there on the pitch and he'd be on his feet and he would pull and push these great players around. So that was very impressive.

'They call him 'Big Phil' and he looked as though he could handle the style and the way Brazilians wanted to play and he could get success the Brazilian way.

'You would expect him to know the English way, because he has great experience, but it's still a question of does he know the English way, does he know the way we are?'

Last week the FA claimed they had completed their interview process but Barwick's trip to Portugal seems to back claims they were unable to reach a decision.

The FA board are due to meet again next Thursday and had hoped to be in a position to finalise their selection by then.

Scolari, whose case has been championed by Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, would prefer not to make anything public until after the World Cup.

But, if the FA suddenly back-tracked on their original plan to name Eriksson's successor before the end of the season, it would obviously point to Scolari.

The Brazilian is thought to have a gentleman's agreement with the Portuguese FA promising not to commit himself to another job until his current contract runs out in July.

It is understood part of the FA's talks were about waiving this agreement.

Howard Wilkinson, who has twice been England's caretaker manager - most recently for a goalless draw against Finland in 2000 before Eriksson's arrival - believes the FA are making an error in looking overseas for a new manager.

'I think it would be a popular decision, but I don't think in the long term it's a good decision for what's best for England and English football,' Wilkinson told Sky Sports News.

'I don't have any reservations about him as a manager, his track record with Brazil was good, but name me a manager of Brazil whose record hasn't been good in the last 50-odd years. I can think of one.

'His record with Portugal particularly at the European Championships was good, but people who compete in European Championships on their home soil usually do well.

'Everyone speaks well of him. But I think in the long term it sends out the wrong message from the Football Association to English coaches and the ramifications will be seen in the years ahead.'

Wilkinson is now chairman of the League Managers' Association

'The Football Association have a responsibility to do what it thinks is in the best interest of English football,' he added.

'In my opinion, this would not be.

'It might not be such a popular appointment if Portugal `bomb' in the World Cup this summer.

'In principle I think the decision - if it is that decision to go outside these shores - will in the long term prove to be a bad decision for the development of English coaches.'

Mark Perryman, a prominent England fan activist, backed the FA's pursuit of Scolari.

'I'm very, very happy. I think he's the strongest candidate. But I'm sad in the sense the strongest candidates right now, this month, next month, this year, aren't English candidates,' Perryman said.

'But I think we are in a much stronger position compared to 2000 when Kevin Keegan resigned.

'We've got some strong candidates and I think we can look forward with optimism to the future.

'Steve McClaren and Sam Allardyce in particular are very strong candidates.

'But it would be a huge risk to appoint those when `Phil' Scolari - who has managed Brazil to the World Cup final and won it, has won the equivalent of the Champions League in South America on two occasions and has managed Portugal to the Euro 2004 final - is clearly the outstanding candidate compared to McClaren and Allardyce.'

England's potential meeting with Portugal in the World Cup quarter-finals could be a difficult match for all involved if Scolari has accepted the FA job by that stage.

Yet Perryman admits it would be disappointing if Portugal were to bow out early.

He added: 'We don't want Portugal to be a failure at this World Cup, we want Scolari to come here with a tremendous tournament behind him, but we don't want that to be at England's expense.'

And with the future in mind, Perryman considers West Ham boss Alan Pardew, Wigan's Paul Jewell and Manchester City chief Stuart Pearce to be England managers in the making.

'I think Pardew, Jewell and Stuart Pearce are three very strong candidates for three or four years' down the line,' said Perryman.

'Let's look long-term. Let's get those people on the bench alongside Scolari, managing the Under-21 team, let's get them part of the England structure so four years down the line [we're not thinking], `Oh, goodness me, we've not got a strong England candidate again'.'

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