Fabio Capello resigns as England manager but who will replace him?
England currently has no manager as Fabio Capello recently resigned. It was pretty clear Capello would be out after the upcoming Euro 2012 and his resignation was a surprise. The problem between Capello and the English Football Association was over John Terry. The Chelsea defender recently had his England captaincy stripped because of an alleged racial abuse against QPR player Anton Ferdinand.
Capello wanted Terry to remain as captain and disagreed with the FA’s decision. The two sides had a meeting this week which resulted in Capello’s resignation. The FA has the official statement about the decision below.
The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England Manager.
This follows a meeting involving FA Chairman David Bernstein, FA General Secretary Alex Horne and Fabio Capello at Wembley Stadium.
The discussions focused on The FA Board’s decision to remove the England team captaincy from John Terry, and Fabio Capello’s response through an Italian broadcast interview.
In a meeting for over an hour, Fabio’s resignation was accepted and he will leave the post of England Manager with immediate effect.
David Bernstein said: “I would like to stress that during today’s meeting and throughout his time as England Manager, Fabio has conducted himself in an extremely professional manner. We have accepted Fabio’s resignation, agreeing this is the right decision. We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future.”
So, now that Capello is gone, who could replace him? Below are some of the candidates along the percentage of each.
Harry Redknapp (80%) - The favorite for most betting sites and viewed by most as one of the top current English managers. He’s recently been acquitted of tax fraud and could start full-time after the current EPL season. There’s no guarantee that Redknapp will be a success but he appears to be the best candidate.
Stuart Pearce (10%) – The current U-21 and Great Britain Olympic manager is another option. He’s the caretaker manager and could keep the job if the team impresses against the Netherlands later this month. It’s probably a bit unlikely he’ll get the job as he’s already committed to the Olympic team.
Guus Hiddink (2%) – He has a lot of international experience and managed Chelsea in 2009. Hiddink is respected but he probably has no chance because he’s not English or British.
Jose Mourinho (1%)- It seems with any high profile job the “Special One” is always mentioned. No real chance of this happening.
Roy Hodgson (2%) - He is an Englishman but failed when he was Liverpool. Hodgson has done well at smaller clubs (Fulham, West Brom) but typically plays a defensive style that would disappoint fans.
Martin O’Neill (1%) – He just recently took the Sunderland job and little chance he’d leave this quickly.
Alan Pardew (5%) – Another Englishman and probably only has a chance if its not Redknapp. He’s had a great season with Newcastle and might not want to leave.
Those are just a few candidates for the England job and it’s probably Harry Redknapp’s unless he doesn’t want it.
