FA chief Barwick returns to London after talks with Scolari

FA chief executive Brian Barwick returned from Lisbon yesterday, saying he had been interviewing Portugal's Brazilian coach Luiz Felipe Scolari about the job of next England manager.

Barwick told reporters at Heathrow Airport: "I think it is well evidenced now that we were in Lisbon speaking to Luiz Felipe Scolari as part of the process of recruiting the next coach and that process continues."

When he arrived later at FA headquarters in London he said the process was continuing "apace."

Barwick had flown out on Wednesday for the talks, having got permission from the Portuguese soccer federation to talk to Brazil's 2002 World Cup-winning coach.

England are looking to replace their first foreign manager, Sweden's Sven-Goran Eriksson, who will step down after the World Cup. Scolari's contract with Portugal expires after the finals in Germany.

The 57-year-old coach, who led Brazil to their 2002 World Cup triumph and took Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, knocking out England on both occasions, has become a surprise front-runner.

Englishmen Steve McClaren, Alan Curbishley and Sam Allardyce, along with Martin O'Neill of Northern Ireland, were early favourites.

Should the talks in Lisbon bear fruit, a decision to appoint Scolari would still need to be rubber-stamped by the FA Board, who are due to meet next Thursday.

A proven winner with a wealth of international experience, and reported to be offered an annual salary of £3.0 million ($5.35 million), saving the FA two million pounds a year on Eriksson's estimated wages, Scolari's appointment would still cause some controversy.

The man known back in Brazil as "Big Phil" would not be welcomed by those who want a home-grown candidate to take over from Eriksson.

Wilkinson warning

The tone was already being struck yesterday by Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the League Managers Association and a former caretaker England manager.

"Everybody talks well of him but I think in the long term it sends out the wrong messages from the Football Association to English coaches and I think the ramifications of that will be seen in the years ahead," Wilkinson told Sky Sports.

"The Football Association has a responsibility to do what it thinks is in the best interests of English football. It's my opinion that this is not or would not be."

Scolari has no doubts about his ability or his interest in the job.

In a recent interview with the BBC, the Brazilian said: "I am a good coach and I am doing a very good job in Portugal.

"The national team in Portugal is maybe better than before. I know I am a good coach.

"I am a man of the world. I have worked in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Brazil and now I work in Portugal. I am happy in any country."

Asked if he would like the England job, Scolari said: "I (would) like the job, yes. But I know if I want to coach the English national team I need to learn the language more and I need to know more about the national team job."

Scolari had been 16-1 in betting on who would succeed Eriksson but the odds were slashed to 5-2 on Monday after weekend media reports strongly linking him with the job.

A poll running on the BBC website over the last few days and indicating yesterday that over 167,400 votes have been cast, showed 38 per cent of fans in favour of ex-Celtic manager O'Neill.

Thirty-two per cent are for Scolari, 16 per cent for Bolton Wanderers' Allardyce, 10 per cent for McClaren of Middlesbrough and just four per cent for Charlton Athletic's Curbishley.