FA to appoint next England manager at season-end

London: The FA will put off naming a permanent England manager until close to the end of the season, general secretary Alex Horne told reporters on Friday.

He said the FA had drawn up a shortlist of candidates to fill the role which opened up when Fabio Capello resigned last month, but would not make an imminent appointment to avoid disrupting the clubs' campaigns.

"We've got a list. It's a back-end-of-the-season decision for us," Horne said. "We recognise that a lot of the managers on the list are employed and we don't want to interrupt anyone's season."

"We're not rushing this and we are expecting something at the back end of the season."
Horne is on the four-man board that will hire the coach.

Under the guidance of caretaker boss Stuart Pearce, England suffered a friendly defeat by Netherlands on Wednesday, which prompted calls in the media for a permanent replacement to be found quickly.

With less than 100 days to go until Euro 2012 kicks off in Ukraine and Poland, the FA has yet to approach anyone about the job and has no qualms in parachuting someone in just before the tournament begins.

"That's perfectly realistic," Horne added. "We've got all of our operational plans in place. We can deliver a squad into Poland so it is perfectly possible."

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is the bookmakers' favourite for the job.

The Premier League ends on May 13, about a month before the start of the European Championships.

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