FA board gives approval for foreign manager to take England men’s job

The Football Association board have given formal approval for the appointment of a foreign manager to replace Gareth Southgate.

The Guardian has learned that the chief executive, Mark Bullingham, went to his nine fellow board members to gain their backing to approach foreign candidates before beginning the recruitment process. The board are understood to have endorsed Bullingham’s request without putting it to a vote, although there were some dissenting voices.

Bullingham’s decision to go to the board indicates the FA has an open mind over who should replace Southgate as the England men’s manager and is determined to recruit the best candidate. During the board discussions it is understood the success of Sarina Wiegman in leading England’s women to win the 2022 European Championship was cited as a good precedent for considering a foreign manager.

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Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel are the leading overseas candidates because both are available after leaving Chelsea and Bayern Munich respectively last season, but their salary demands could be problematic for the FA, which was paying Southgate about £5m a year.

English contenders include Newcastle’s Eddie Howe and Graham Potter, who has been out of work since leaving Chelsea 16 months ago.

The FA’s search is being led by Bullingham and the technical director, John McDermott, who will assemble a shortlist and conduct interviews before returning to the board for ratification of their intended appointment. Given England’s next game is little over a month away – a Nations League tie in the Republic of Ireland on 7 September – and the squad is to be named a fortnight before, it is likely the Under-21 manager, Lee Carsley, will be asked to take interim charge.

Carsley could be a candidate to take the job on a permanent basis given his success in winning the Under-21 European Championship last summer, when his side won all six matches without conceding a goal and beat Spain in the final.

Bullingham is appointing his first senior England men’s manager, his predecessor, Martin Glenn, having given Southgate the job. Speaking before England’s run to the final of the European Championship last month Bullingham said the FA was working to a succession plan.

“Any organisation has a succession plan in place for their top employees and we are no different to that,” he said. “This succession plan normally includes everything from what you do for short-term cover through to a process you follow to candidates.”