Guest Wolverine Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Luiz Felipe Scolari has been offered the job of England manager and is discussing terms with the Football Assocation, the BBC has learned. FA chief executive Brian Barwick was in Lisbon on Wednesday to thrash out a deal with Portugal's Brazilian coach. "We were speaking to Felipe as part of the process of recruiting the next coach and that process continues," said Barwick after flying back to London. Scolari, 57, is out of contract after the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. If he accepted the post Scolari, who led Brazil to victory at the 2002 World Cup, would replace Sven-Goran Eriksson after this summer's tournament. Scolari is thought to have a gentleman's agreement with the Portuguese FA not to commit himself to another job until his current deal runs out in July. But it is understood part of the FA's talks in Lisbon were about waiving this arrangement. Barwick flew back in to London's Heathrow on Thursday but made no comment on when the FA would make an announcement on the situation. An FA spokesman told BBC Sport that talks with the Portuguese FA started in February this year. The spokesman said: "I can confirm that the FA formally approached the Portuguese Football Federation back in February. "The FA chairman Geoff Thompson spoke to the PFF president Gilberto Madail for permission to speak to Mr Scolari and that permission was granted." The FA board is due to meet again on Thursday 4 May and had hoped to be in a position to finalise its selection by then. Scolari's case is believed to have been championed at the highest level within the FA by Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein. News that he has been offered the England job will come as a blow to those fans who favour a British appointment. The FA has also held talks with Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren, Bolton's Sam Allardyce, Alan Curbishley of Charlton and former Celtic boss Martin O'Neill. Last week, the FA claimed it had completed its interview process, and McClaren - part of Eriksson's current England coaching team - was seen as the favourite. But Barwick's trip to Portugal seems to support claims that the FA board was unable to reach a firm decision. Agreeing personal terms with Scolari should not be an issue as the estimated £3m annual salary on offer would represent a big pay rise for him. But the FA's approach raises the prospect of Scolari facing England in Germany this summer as manager-elect, possibly in the quarter-finals. He has helped to knock England out of their past two major tournaments - with Brazil in the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals, and with Portugal at the same stage in Euro 2004. Scolari is a double winner of the Libertadores - the South American championship - and took hosts Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, where they lost to Greece. Credit: BBC Are the England fans on the board happy with the impending appointment of Scolari? On the one hand, he is by far the most proven and successful manager on the shortlist, with a World Cup victory among his list of achievements. Of course, there are however those who firmly believe that an English manager should manage the country. So, what d'ya think? Are you pleased by this news or would you rather have Steve McClaren as manager? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrew_D Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 He's good enough to win us things. For me, yay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jung Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 I'd rather have a proven manager, than the best English manager, which isn't saying much. I think he's a top manager, and can get the best out of England on every level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PHIZZLE Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Theres no real stand out english manager in the premiership I say if yous can get big Phil give him the job the guy has a proven record Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Crippler Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 When you look at those in the running, the two best choices were quite obvious to me - either O'Neill or Scolari. Scolari has a great track record at both club and International level. Something that McClaren, Allardyce and Curbishley don't have. There's not much denying that any of those three have done well at small clubs but none have been proven on a massive scale. I think some people think it's far easier managing a bigger club or team than a smaller team. It isn't. The pressure is far greater and you are coaching better players and must work harder to gain their respect. Some of the comments I've read from fans and even football managers the last day or two have been downright xenophobic. The only thing I think Scolari doesn't have going for him is I believe he's lacking in his command of the English language and whilst it's vital to communicate, he can work on improving his English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jung Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Apparantly he's been learning English over the last few months, and he seems very dedicated, so I imagine he'd pick it up pretty quickly. Certainly enough to command a team. I think when Scolari finishes ideally in say 4-5 years time, then by all means give it to someone like Stuart Pearce, who'll have more experience, and more understanding. But giving it to an English manager now, would just be a mistake, because they aren't good enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolverine Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 His English is reasonably good - he recently had a ten minute interview on Five Live, and he was certainly coherent enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Inno Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 That's one up on Steve McLaren already then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Crippler Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Well if his English is better than I thought then that's even better for England and even less reason for opposition to his appointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Boyo Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 Even as a Welshman I'm happy for England that they've got Big Phil as the new manager. Well, I'm happy that they've offered the job to him firstly. McLaren, Curbs and Fat Sam are all jokers. Not even Newcastle are considering these clowns for their vacancy and Newcastle are slowly becoming a parody of a football club. If Big Phil does take the job then England will have hired a man with huge cojones, who has guts, who commands a changing room without parallel. Crumbs! The man dropped half the Portugese national team one game into Euro 2004 because they lost to Greece in the group stage. At least it will be Phil's-Balls in charge now, and not Golden-Balls. Thank heavens David Dein knows what he's doing. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Gringo 279 Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 He managed the Portugese side that beat us in Euro 2004... He's won a World Cup and a Copa America... He is a great character and unafraid to make big decsions regarding big name players like Figo and Romario in the past... For god's sake give him the job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Craig Van Dam Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 He managed the Portugese side that beat us in Euro 2004... He's won a World Cup and a Copa America... He is a great character and unafraid to make big decsions regarding big name players like Figo and Romario in the past... For god's sake give him the job! He also managed the 10 man Brazil team that knocked us out of World Cup 2002 I would prefer an Englishman however as documented none of the candidates have the credentials that Scolari has, so yes I think he should get the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRM 220 Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 When you look at those in the running, the two best choices were quite obvious to me - either O'Neill or Scolari. Mcleish has a as good a redcord in scotland as o'Neil not to mention has got rangers into the last 16 of the Champions League, he's out of work in the next few weeks. Give it To McLeish! But yeah Scolari, better choice than Mclaren in my opnion, so yay from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wolverine Posted April 27, 2006 Share Posted April 27, 2006 He's said whilst in charge of Brazil that if he found out that one of his players was a homosexual, he'd throw him off the team. :D He's also a huge admirer of General Pinochet and openly tells players to hack the opposition. He's my type of coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Crippler Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 From the BBC Sport: England and Preston legend Sir Tom Finney wanted to see a home-grown appointment. "I would personally like to see Martin O'Neill appointed," said Finney. "I'm quite surprised there could be another foreign manager after Eriksson. "It's sad to see they've gone abroad for a manager when England taught the rest of the world how to play the game." Only slight problem with that, Sir Tom, is that the guy you've suggested is Northern Irish! So that goes against the rest of what you said. The rest of the comments (mainly from English managers) have kind of astounded me. They are very much against this and to me it just smacks of bitterness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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