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[Blwe_torch]

Snub has done us a big favour
By Gary Lineker

Rebuff: no Three Lions for Luiz Felipe Scolari, just Goleo, the World Cup mascot

A fine mess it may be, but at least it hasn't messed up the minds of the England football team.

Unlike the Football Association, the players won't be thinking long term. All that is on their minds right now is this summer's World Cup finals.

Besides, far better a shambles now than one in the midst of England's qualification for the European Championships, which I fear the appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari might have resulted in.
No, I think Big Phil did us a big favour by rejecting the offer to coach England. I originally thought, when it became clear the Brazilian was the first choice, that he would deny all interest in the job until after the World Cup, when his contract with the Portuguese FA had expired. But I think his rebuff now is fairly categorical. So where does all this leave England?

Hopefully, back with better candidates, like Martin O'Neill. At least we know now the Irishman cannot be turned down on the basis of not being English, the FA having offered the job to a foreigner with next to no knowledge of either our game or our culture. I cannot imagine what could have convinced them he was the right man, other than leading Brazil to victory in the last World Cup.

I expect Steve McClaren has moved into pole position after steering Middlesbrough into the Uefa Cup final in the most sensational fashion last week, but I still insist that of the men available, O'Neill is the best man for the job. At the risk of sounding like his agent, I maintain that apart from the nationality issue he has all the right credentials. He has won major competitions with both small and big clubs, played the game at the highest level and managed difficult players. He is very strong-minded, an excellent tactician, a great motivator and, perhaps most impressive of all, he brings out the best in people.

At least it would be one appointment that could not go pear-shaped even before it has started, which would have been the danger with Scolari or any other manager currently involved with one of the World Cup finalists. Just imagine the media's reaction if Portugal bombed in the World Cup while England excelled. It would have been a case of "comeback Eriksson, all is forgiven". That's the trouble with football management - it's ever shifting, as McClaren knows only too well. Not long ago Boro fans were baying for his blood. Now they're calling him "Super Steve McClaren".

The England players would probably like to know who their next manager is going to be just for their peace of mind, but it won't be uppermost in their thoughts. In 1990, when I was a member of the squad, we never gave it a second thought that Graham Taylor would be taking over from Bobby Robson after the World Cup ended. Players are naturally selfish; they just care whether the new man will like them and select them. They won't worry too much about whether he's the right man for the job. In most cases they won't personally know the new man anyway, but if it's McClaren, the England No 2, some may have an inkling whether or not he likes them.

The FA cannot allow the situation to rumble on for much longer. It would be nice to think they could all agree on one man, but that, of course, is never the case with appointments by committee. It does seem wrong, though, that arguably the best man for the job, Arsene Wenger, was never interviewed. There was clearly a conflict of interests here with the FA's David Dein, Arsenal's vice-chairman. You can just imagine it: "You don't want this job, do you Arsene? No? Good." It's just possible things might have been different had Brian Barwick, the FA's chief executive, been allowed to go and twist his arm, even if, as I suspect, Wenger is far too intelligent to have yielded.

I have the utmost respect for Barwick; he gave me my break in television and I count him as a friend, but I don't envy him. In an ideal world the chief executive would make the final decision after consulting with football men like Sir Trevor Brooking, but that has not happened here because there are too many egos, too many people who want to have a say in the matter.

A unanimous decision would be too much to hope for - Scolari was hardly anyone's first choice last time - but hopefully commonsense will prevail and this England team will get a manager worthy of them. At least of the candidates now left, there isn't a poor one among them. And when all is said and done, it's players who win matches, not managers.