Come on, come on, registrations are now open.
On Friday, the English Football Association quietly posted a vacancy on the vacancy page of its website: Head Coach of the England Senior Team.
You must hold a UEFA Pro Licence and, to quote from the application itself, have significant experience in English football with a strong track record of achieving results in the Premier League and/or officiating in international competitions.
It seems the FA already have a number of candidates in mind. Lee Carsley, the England Under-21 manager; Mauricio Pochettino, Graham Potter and Eddie Howe, who already seems to be using the interest as a powerplay to get his way at Newcastle.
So, who will it be? Mail Sport assesses the main contenders.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe is among the favourites to become the next England manager
Gareth Southgate’s sacking after the Euro 2024 final defeat means applications are now open for his former job
England’s rising star squad needs a new leader and there are plenty of top coaches vying for the vacancy
Experience
HOW: Led Bournemouth from League Two to the Premier League, after a brief spell at Burnley, before moving to Newcastle to manage the Saudi Revolution, where he enjoyed his first taste of the Champions League. 7/10
CANDLEY: Learned his trade as a youth coach at Coventry, Brentford, Birmingham and Man City. No real first-team experience other than a few interim roles but saw his reputation rise as manager of England Under-21s, leading them to their first European Championship since 1984.7/10
BAG: Far more experience at big clubs than any other candidate, having managed Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea after spells at Espanyol and Southampton. Also knows what it’s like to play international football, with 20 caps for Argentina. 8/10
POTTER: His coaching journey started at the bottom. From the ninth division of English football with Leeds Metropolitan University to Chelsea in the Premier League. Led small Swedish team Ostersund to three promotions and the Europa League, and also a short spell at Swansea before performing minor miracles at Brighton. 6/10
England Under-21 manager Lee Carsley has a proven track record as a youth coach at Coventry, Brentford, Birmingham and Man City, but has no real first-team experience.
Both of Chelsea’s recently sacked managers, Graham Potter (left) and Mauricio Pochettino (right), are both in contention for the England role.
Dossier
HOW: Not a major trophy, but Howe has had undeniable success with the resources he has had. Three promotions at Bournemouth and a relegation-threatened Newcastle transformed into a Champions League team that beat PSG 4-1 last season. Saudi wealth helps, of course, and it will be interesting to see how he fares when the financial reins are tightened. 7/10
CANDLEY: You can’t compare his senior record with his fellow contenders, but he can boast something Southgate can’t. He’s brought England silverware. The Young Lions didn’t concede a single goal in last year’s tournament. On the way to Under-21 glory, his team beat Germany and Portugal, and even beat Spain in a final. 8/10
BAG: A bit like Southgate, Pochettino gets a stick with the words ‘Yeah, but what have you actually won?’ scrawled on the side. I mean, he won the French league with PSG, but everyone wins the French league with PSG. He’s lost two League Cup finals and a Champions League final.
In reality, Pochettino’s record is more than trophies. He develops players and shapes clubs. He even managed to turn Chelsea around before his untimely departure. However, only once in the history of the World Cup and the European Championship has the coach of the winning team not been from that country, when German Otto Rehhagel led Greece to the Euros in 2004. 8/10
POTTER: Another bare trophy cabinet. Potter’s success has always been more about his ability to develop players and get them playing in an attractive way, punching above their weight. England punched above their weight in 2018 under Southgate. They are now a heavyweight and need someone to deliver a knockout blow. 6/10
Howe has never won a major trophy but has had undeniable success with the resources he had at both Bournemouth and now Newcastle.
Pochettino is also not known for his trophies, but is loved for his ability to develop young English players, such as Cole Palmer (left).
Man-Management
HOW: Players love working for Howe, but Anthony Gordon admitted it took him six months to understand how to play after joining Newcastle from Everton. Howe’s comments about Newcastle on Friday reeked of politics, a world away from the statesmanlike behaviour we’ve come to expect from Southgate. 6/10
CANDLEY: Carsley knows how to get the best out of attacking young talent. He had Cole Palmer in his Euros team alongside the likes of Gordon, Levi Colwill and Harvey Elliott. ‘This is probably the best football team I’ve played in, in terms of the style of play and the combination of play around the box,’ Gordon said. ‘It’s really elite. For me, that’s down to Lee.’ 9/10
BAG: England supersub Cole Palmer has praised Pochettino for his qualities at Chelsea, saying: ‘He’s good at making you feel good’ and has shown an interest in family matters.
At Tottenham he was key to unlocking Harry Kane’s potential, he knows how to get the best out of him, something Southgate failed miserably at Euro 2024. 9/10
POTTER: Another manager known for his connection with the human side of his players. You’d hope so, considering he has a master’s degree in leadership and emotional management — even if he did once have his players perform a modern dance to Swan Lake.
The question at Chelsea though was whether he was strong enough to deal with the big players and their egos. It’s one thing to manage Pascal Gross, it’s another to manage Jude Bellingham. 6/10
Carsley knows how to get the best out of attacking young talent, just as he has done with the England youth team
Potter is a manager known for his ability to reach the human side of his players