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Rooney backs Redknapp to replace Capello

ESPN staff
February 8, 2012
Wayne Rooney wants Harry Redknapp to replace Fabio Capello © Getty Images
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Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney believes Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp should be the man to replace Fabio Capello as England manager.

The Football Association are looking for a new man to lead the Three Lions, after Capello tendered his resignation on Wednesday following an unproductive meeting with the organisation's board over the decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy.

While Rooney expressed his disappointment at Capello's exit, the forward believes he should be replaced by an English manager and that Harry Redknapp is the ideal candidate.

"Gutted Capello has quit," Rooney said on Twitter. "Good guy and top coach. Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me."

Redknapp is considered the odds-on favourite to take the vacant role, especially after he was found not guilty of tax evasion charges at Southwark Crown Court earlier on Wednesday afternoon.

However, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy refused to comment when asked about the possibility of Redknapp taking on the England job alongside his club duties until the European Championships in the summer.

Other candidates have already emerged, with Guus Hiddink having reportedly expressed an interest in the position - perhaps in a similar 'caretaker' role to the one he took at Chelsea in 2009, where he took the club to FA Cup glory during a temporary spell in charge. Alan Pardew and Roy Hodgson have also been linked.

However, it is England Under-21 manager Stuart Pearce who is expected to manage the senior side for the forthcoming friendly against the Netherlands on February 29, before the search for a permanent successor gets underway.

In the meantime, the FA is still to finalise the exact terms of Capello's departure. Capello and FA chairman David Bernstein sealed the England manager's resignation with a handshake, but ESPNsoccernet has learned that it is yet to be formally concluded.

For that reason all parties have agreed to stick with the carefully worded statements as Capello's English lawyer goes through the details of his departure, with Capello advised not to make any comment which might aggravate or alter the dynamics of the departure until Thursday's press conference.

On Wednesday evening the former AC Milan and Real Madrid manager strenuously denied comments attributed to him saying he had been "insulted" by the FA. Nevertheless, the handling of John Terry's situation has forced both parties into a stand-off that the lawyers may end up resolving.

"Fabio and the chairman shook hands but no one has signed any paper work, and Fabio's English lawyer is now looking at it all very closely, so it is wise for neither party to veer away from the FA's statement as it stands at the moment," a source close to matters told ESPNsoccernet. "That might change once the agreement moves from a handshake to signed paperwork."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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