Very interesting and thought-provoking article from an interview with Howard Wilkinson. I reckon he will make a play for the Managers job supported by a younger coach like Alan Curbishley:

WORLD CUP MAY NOR BE THE PRIORITY - Wilkinson

Football Assocation technical director Howard Wilkinson insists England must seriously consider whether to effectively abandon the 2002 World Cup as their main priority and start planning for the future.

That would curtail the international careers of many experienced players such as Tony Adams, David Seaman, Martin Keown, Dennis Wise and Paul Ince.

The idea is to field youngsters such as Rio Ferdinand, Steve Gerrard, Gareth Barry, Richard Wright and Joe Cole alongside a few experienced players, without them being fearful of losing their places with one mistake.

It would give England the chance to follow the example of France when they reacted to their failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals by planning four years ahead and promptly winning the next tournament.

Asked about the concept of shifting focus to primarily planning for the future beyond 2002, caretaker-coach Wilkinson declared: "It's a possibility which has to be seriously thought about.

"I would say that whoever is in charge is going to have to sit down and ponder on that one. It is a decision that the next manager has to consider."

FA chief executive Adam Crozier has already indicated his belief that current success can be achieved along with blooding young talent, although that was admittedly before the goalless draw in Finland.

However, Wilkinson insisted: "The technical director might want to sit there and discuss the idea but, with great respect to my superiors, I don't think they're the ones to decide actual football strategy."

The potential solution is certainly not flawless and some would argue it is completely unrealistic. After all, income would be lost if the team did not make it to South Korea and Japan, while a culture shift would be needed for the public to stop demanding overnight success amid overblown expectations.

However, others argue that the current approach has seen England merely stand still over the past two years and the past two displays prove only that the national team are nowhere near winning anything right now. Indeed, even if the current side were to reach the 2002 World Cup finals, they would probably only suffer a similar fate as they did at Euro 2000.

That is if they reach the finals at all, of course, and that far from being a certainty in the wake of just one point from their opening two games.

So maybe it is time to at least begin thinking the supposedly unthinkable, and it seemed to be with the intention of starting a public debate that Wilkinson started the ball rolling.

For the strength of English football would appear to lie in the young talent, aged between 18 and 25, of which many other nations are jealous. Given enough experience and the right coaching, there is no reason why those youngsters - as well as the likes of a more mature David Beckham - could not be a success by 2004 or 2006.

However, that ultimately depends upon having avoided a quick-fix solution, established a long-term plan and stuck to it - such as deciding upon Ferdinand as the team's sweeper and giving him time to settle into the role.

The moment is at least ripe for the debate in the wake of the past two England displays and with the vacancy for a national coach now starting to be discussed in earnest by the FA.

It is certainly hard to see some older coaches, such as Marcello Lippi, wanting to wait at least four years before having a real chance of success with England. But there is the option of appointing an experienced figure such as Terry Venables, Roy Hodgson or Wilkinson with a younger coach like David Platt, Alan Curbishley or Peter Taylor as his number two and successor.

The view of Wilkinson, who has not yet confirmed whether he is seeking the job himself, is likely to be crucial as he is the only 'non-suit' on the seven-man selection panel and holds considerable sway at Lancaster Gate. And he has made it clear that a long-term view is essential for success, even if the younger players have to be brought into the national team more gradually.

"Recent games have been symptomatic of what's been happening over the past couple of years - taking two steps forward and one step back," he said. The next England coach has got to be long-term and think long-term.

"It's got to be decided how we're going to do things and each time that the squad and the team come together, they've got to be taken a little further than they were last time. There needs to be a programme there which you add to. International management is totally different to club management. Some of the qualities required are totally different.

"The basic fundamental difference is that you can't buy players. What you've got, you are going to have while you are even if you're there four years. You have to decide how to use what you've got. The games are battles in a long campaign."

Wilkinson refuses to accept that England do not have the players to achieve international success but he knows they must be better managed and prepared than they have been in the past. "They've won games domestically but we're talking internationally," he said. The players we have are more than capable if the structure is right in terms of the strategy over the next six games or two years to enable us to compete with teams like Germany and Italy."

The question therefore remains - do we keep on muddling along and hoping that things come right, or do we start actually planning for the future?

It is an issue not only for the FA and their next coach, but also the English public.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2000

Answers

Could it be that someone is actually speaking sense?? I'm sure many of the English public may feel differently. I can only look at this from the American perspective of starting off as the joke of world football and not having much to lose. But it seems that this is exactly what the American soccer federation has done, other than the hiccup of WC98(apparently a result of disastrous coaching). Even with the Olympics, they tried not to let expectations get too high, but at the same time make the public and players realize that we've got some good players who are coming along and showing they can compete, and eventually go on to win things. Of course the weight of public expectation in the US is nothing like England(or many other countries, for that matter). Wonder if the FA will go for it? And how will the English public react to such a plan?

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2000

I don't think that at this point the FA will sacrifice the next world cup for a strong team for EURO 2004. The English publisc wouldn't either. we want sucsess and we want it now. A new manager will come in , get rid of some of the oldies and bring in some new faces for the next games in March . If we don't win the next 2 games then we will have 2 years of experimental sides rather than sticking with youngsters in the hope that they get better. We are an impatient nation, unlike the French who didn't really like football that much until they won the world cup.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2000

rick et all er, forgive me, but does anybody really think that england are in a position to "sacrifice" the world cup. we haven't got a chance in f****ng hell. a new start is needed and there's nowt to lose, just depends if the fa have got the nuts.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2000

As I suggested in the original post, this sounds to me like a man preparing his CV.

The reality, that will be reinforced by all serious candidates being interviewed, is that we can forget about being a legitimate candidate for WC2002 even if by some miracle we qualify - only the blind or demented (or perhaps the FA gurus!) would argue with that.

So, I would expect a new manager to use the remaining WC qualifiers to begin the preparation of a team for both Euro2004 and WC2006. If we just happened to qualify for WC2002 then fine, if not tough titties.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2000

As one on here who supports England I am VERY disturbed by the article clarky posted. (Not with you though clarky!)

In return may I as a question?

How improved are the England players technically under our current "Technical Director"? This then leads to If the future is youth how well are our U21s doing under their current manager? This leads to a further question of how well did the current England manager tactically and through selection of players advance the cause of English football against Finland?

Now those of you who are astute will pick up a common thread to the above paragraph, and for Lonly Tune I will tell you all of the above is one H. Wilkinson.

I disagree with most of his suggestions/ideas. That is obviously why I am not England Manager.

I think a lot of the problems are that there is a squad mentality and a lot of players know their positions are safe unless they have a run of failures. Why bring youth in gradually. Tell that to the Leeds squad, now not suggesting they are world beaters, but on a whole they performed well. I am not suggesting sending out a team of youngsters, but integrating them if they are capable of doing the job.

He says it is difficult because it is not like a club situation. I think that makes it easier. He has the pick of all England qualified players without paying for them.

From the above I hope he not only does not get the job but is removed from the England set up.

He is a dinasaur. We need new management as well as a new team.

-- Anonymous, October 12, 2000

Of course we should concentrate on the world cup. How else am I going to make a fortune on the black market selling vastly over priced tickets to pissed up English fans. Some how I don't think there'll be such a large demand from the Albanians.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2000

On the basis that they could hardly do worse than the shower we've relied on up to now , I'd play the rest of the qualifying games for this one with a squad of mainly the kids who'd be in for the next one anyway.

If by some miracle they put up a reasonable showing, it'll be great experience for them, if they don't, no real harm done, cos us lot have real short memories, and come the next major tournament, all will have been forgiven, if the kids are starting to come together.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2000

The next world cup will not be won by any nation from Northern Europe, it'll probably be a South American team. Japan and Korea in the summer is just too hot and humid. Imagine the creaky bones of Adams, Seaman, Ince, Sheringham et al trying to cope with the heat, the humidity AND Rivaldo. It's not going to work is it?

There really is only Venables or Hodgson in the equation, and I agree with Wilkinson - they should be spending the next few years building a team up of youngsters who can learn each others' games. So what if we don't qualify for the WC, we've got no chance of winning it.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2000

Don't get me started on the humidity, the heat isn't that bad 32 degrees but the humidity is in the 90's every day 24 hours a day and let's not forget that it's rainy season in June and when it rains, well I hear that the Souths had a bit of rain but try 4 inches in two hours and you get an idea of how wet it'll be. Still at least I won't have very far to travel for games!

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2000

If we ditch ALL the experienced players and throw out a young team of Joe Coles and Alan Smiths and they were to get regularly hammered, then we could easily write off yet another generation of talent.
They certainly need to be introduced earlier rather than later, but a violent swing of the pendulum from one extreme to the other is unlikely to prove successful, IMHO.
A thoughtful transition from the "old" to the "new" is the key initial challenge for the new Manager.

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2000

It needn't be that sweeping to develop a bit of youth in the team and provide a platform for the World Cup.

Bring in the likes of Woodgate, Ferdinand, Dyer, Joe Cole, Wes Brown and Ashley Cole and you can keep players like Scholes, Gerrard, Beckham, Southgate and Owen.

we'll never find out how good they are until they are in a position to be tested. At least it will answer a few questions as to how good these players really are or are they just another crop of promising youngsters who are not as good as we make them out to be?

-- Anonymous, October 13, 2000