Hands off Sarina! FA chief Mark Bullingham tells the USA England won’t let them take serial-winner Wiegman ‘at any cost’ – and announces plans to immortalise Lionesses with a statue at Wembley
Hands off Sarina! FA chief Mark Bullingham tells US England won’t allow them to take series winner Wiegman ‘at all costs’ – and announces plans to immortalize lionesses with statue at Wembley
- The FA has insisted that they will not allow the US to poach Sarina Wiegman
- US coach Vlatko Andonovski retired after a disappointing World Cup defense
- WATCH: ‘It all starts’ – Episode 1 – Mail Sport’s brand new football show
The FA has insisted they will not allow a desperate US women’s organization to snatch Sarina Wiegman to rebuild their team after she left the World Cup early.
US coach Vlatko Andonovski made a leap before being pushed on Thursday – he resigned after the world champions were knocked out by Sweden in the last 16 after a poor tournament.
Wiegman, who leads England to the World Cup final on Sunday after winning the European Championship, is the perfect candidate for a governing body that can show the money.
But FA chief Mark Bullingham stated that Wiegman is happy working for the FA, with a salary of around £400,000, and that the Americans would be turned down if they called.
Asked if he would reject an approach if he was hand, he said, “Yes, 100 percent.” No price would be enough to get rid of her, he insisted. “It’s not about the money,” he said. We are very happy with her and we feel that she is happy. I think that’s the answer.’
Sarina Wiegman leads England to the World Cup final on Sunday after glory at the European Championship
FA chief Mark Bullingham (left) stated that Wiegman is happy working for the FA, with a salary of around £400,000
US coach Vlatko Andonovski jumped on Thursday before being pushed – he resigned after the world champions were knocked out in the last 16 by Sweden
The FA is already planning to erect a statue to Wiegman and members of her team – an idea put forward by Mail Sport’s Chris Sutton in our new ‘It’s all Kicking Off’ podcast on Monday.
An idea had been in the pipeline for some time to erect a statue for Wiegman’s European Championship-winning team at Wembley, with designs under consideration that would include some or all of the players.
Bullingham said: ‘It’s something we’re looking at after the euro. We’ve made progress on that and it would be good to have something to commemorate that success outside of Wembley. It’s more the whole team (than Sarina).
There are many stages you have to go through – we managed to get through the first stage. You need to go through several permissions – we’ve gone through that. The next phase is the design.’
Meanwhile, another candidate being touted for the US role is Briton Laura Harvey, who has coached the US at U20, U23 and senior level and currently manages OL Reign in the American National Women’s Soccer League.
Tony Gustavsson, the charismatic Swede who took Australia to the semi-finals of the World Cup and was an assistant to Jill Ellis when the US won the World Cup four years ago, is another contender. But Wiegman would be a much better option.
The new role will bring pressure, with the 2024 Olympics a year away. It is already expected that the new coach will turn things around, although stars such as Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are stepping down.