Scolari set to be named England manager?

Luiz Felipe Scolari is set to become Sven Goran Eriksson's succesor.

After holding talks with The FA in Portugal, reports strongly suggest that Scolari was not just interviewed, but offered the chance of taking over the England post after the up-coming World Cup.

Many believed that The FA would choose an English coach this time round. These reports come just a week after Scolari was 20-1 to land the job. Steve McClaren was favourite to get the offer.

So is "Big Phil" getting the job the righ decision on the FA's part? Given the fact that he barely speaks the Queen's English you'd have to say no. Jimmy Hill, who doesn't say many things i agree with, pointed out that if the team needs a moment of inspiration from him, it's going to have to go through a translator, that's not the most inspiring of thoughts.

Those who watched the PFA Awards earlier this week will have seen Alan Ball speaking about his experiences in the 1966 World Cup Final. Afer listening to him, even Oliver Holt would have been inspired to go and take on Brazil, Argentina, Italy and co.

Not only that is against "Big Phil". What will happen to all the up and coming superstars like Aaron Lennon, Darren Bent, Michael Dawson, Nigel Reo-Coker and the list goes on. Will the FA get someone to be his number 2 and point out the style England like to play in, the newcomers mentioned above, the way to approach English players? Well why don't they just give the England job to that someone assisting him to start with? It'll save a lot of trouble.

Don't get me wrong here, i'm not saying that Steve McClaren is the best choice. He's not the only one who knows the English game. My personal choice would have been Martin O'Neil. He's not English, but you can't say he's foreign. He has that edge that people like Sven and McClaren lack. That spur of the moment decision that can change a game and i'm pretty sure he has that inspirational team talk that would get his troops ready for war.

So asuming that Scolari does get the job, i think it's a bad choice. Of course we'll see in 12 months time whether i'm right or not. I think he's the sort of appointment that will need time to settle, time that the English press and fans never allow.