Sam Allardyce today distanced himself from the England manager's job after launching a passionate defence of Steve McClaren.
The 52-year-old Newcastle boss, overlooked for the post after Sven-Goran Eriksson's departure, has voiced his displeasure at the reaction to Wednesday's hugely damaging 2-1 Euro 2008 qualifier defeat in Russia.
Allardyce was today quoted as a 25-1 shot to replace McClaren should he lose his job, with former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho installed as 3-1 joint-favourite with Martin O'Neill.
Asked if that made him feel uncomfortable, Allardyce replied: "Yes, certainly for me personally, because I am very friendly with Steve and I would never talk about anybody else's position while they are in the job.
"He should be allowed to see it through to the end. We are not out of it. We have still got the opportunity to get there — I know we have to rely on somebody else first, but that's football.
Meanwhile, Martin O'Neill has labelled speculation linking him as the next England manager as "unfair" and tipped Steve McClaren and his players to defy the odds and qualify for Euro 2008.
The Aston Villa boss has emerged as a front-runner to succeed McClaren should he be sacked if England fail to reach the finals in Austria and Switzerland.
Villa chairman Randy Lerner said he would not stand in O'Neill's way should he get the call from the Football Association to replace the under-fire manager.
But O'Neill is uncomfortable with the situation and still believes there will be a twist in the tale in England's qualifying group.
O'Neill said: "I will say my piece. I am very uncomfortable trying to answer a question here about England.
"My chairman has mentioned something. He was trying to answer a question that was being hypothetical about the England situation.
"More importantly, I think England were really unlucky against Russia. They have been playing great in the matches and my own view, for what it is worth, is that they will still qualify.
England realistically need Israel to take something from Russia in Tel Aviv next month and then themselves beat Croatia at Wembley if they are to make next summer's finals after their hopes suffered a major blow in Moscow.
