SOCCER:Fabio Capello has emerged as the favourite to succeed Steve McClaren as England's coach after Jose Mourinho last night confirmed he has ruled himself out of contention.
The former Chelsea coach contacted the English Football Association's chief executive, Brian Barwick, on Sunday night to inform him that he was no longer interested in the post. He confirmed his withdrawal in a statement released via his agent last night.
Barwick will now turn his attention to sounding out alternative candidates, with the former Milan coach Capello at the forefront of his thinking. The two are likely to meet this week, and Capello has made no secret of his desire to take on the job. Sources close to the 61-year-old said he would consider the post the crowning glory of his career that has seen him garner nine league titles with four different clubs.
Barwick and his close advisers are understood to be similarly impressed with the Italian, whose maturity and experience are as attractive as his track record and availability, attributes that would outweigh the drawback of his lack of fluency in English.
While Capello appears the favoured candidate, Barwick will not close his options, conscious that until a firm offer has been made any candidate could follow Mourinho's lead and walk away.
Accordingly, the chief executive is considering the credentials of Marcello Lippi, the Italian 2006 World Cup-winning coach, and Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill.
Of the live candidates identified by Barwick following consultation across football last week, Jurgen Klinsmann remains the outsider.
Lippi's representatives have made it clear to the FA that he is interested in discussing the post, and a meeting with Barwick is also likely this week.
O'Neill's status is less clear, with the FA yet to establish whether he would listen to an offer for the post. There has been no direct contact as any approach would have to be channelled via Aston Villa, and Barwick will not consider disrupting a domestic club unless he is certain that O'Neill is the best candidate.
Barwick has stressed there is no definite timetable for the process, but the quality of the candidates available means he may be in a position to recommend a candidate to the FA board when it meets next week.
Mourinho has received noisy support from sections of the media and England's diffuse fan-base ever since McClaren was sacked, but his withdrawal from the process confirms the thinking of those who suspected his interest in the England post was part of a strategy intended to flush out an offer from a major European club.
In an interview this weekend, the Portuguese indicated he was interested in taking the England post, and suggestions that he subsequently received a firm offer from a club, thought to be Milan, appear to be confirmed by his withdrawal.
In his statement Mourinho described the post as a "fantastic" opportunity, but said that ultimately he was not interested.
"After Steve McClaren left the England football team, my representatives maintained contact with the FA," he said. "In that sense, I had myself useful discussions with Brian Barwick and Trevor Brooking where we exchanged ideas to evaluate the entire situation about the England squad and set the goals in case of real invitation being addressed to me.
"After deep and serious thinking, I decided to exclude myself from being England manager despite it being a fantastic position for me. I'm sure the FA will hire a great manager, one able to place the team back where it belongs."
