Pommy Disaster Makes Things Harder for Aussies

England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008 is obviously bad news for England. But it’s also bad news for Australia. Because ever since Dick Advocaat pulled a U-turn and decided he’d rather stay at Zenit St. Petersburg than be the Socceroos boss, there’s been a frantic search for the right man, and the English FA’s search for Steve McClaren’s replacement has narrowed the field for the Aussies even further. Jose Mourinho, Martin O’Neill, Felipe Scolari and Fabio Capello – four names the Football Federation of Australia had mentioned as possible appointees – would now probably prefer the better paying and more high profile England job. Especially as it comes with a free holiday next summer.

And Australia aren’t the only country in the market for a new manager. Ukraine, Serbia, Finland, Norway and Denmark also have “Help Wanted” signs outside their respective FA headquarters. Australia still have several advantages though. They started their search earlier than the other nations mentioned and have apparently been talking to Dutchman Pim Verbeek and Brazilian Jorvan Vieira, two good coaches whose names probably don’t register in England.

In some ways the Australia job should be preferable to the England job. The new Socceroo manager won’t face the depressing year of downtime his England counterpart will, as Australia begin the road to World Cup 2010 Qualification in February 2008, their long-awaited debut in the Asian qualification group. And while the recent Asian Cup venture was a disaster, there are plenty of good players to work with (like Tim Cahill, pictured) an A-League that’s growing in strength and not quite the untidy mess or overexpectant masses that exist in England. In short it could be a great time to be Australia boss.

But money talks, and the one thing (maybe the only thing) the English FA have is lots and lots of money.

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Category: England, World Football