Harry Redknapp last week admitted he wouldn’t turn down the England job if it was offered to him. And that is music to my ears.

I only wish the gods would get a move on and make it happen now- James Calvert

The Tottenham Hotspur boss described the role as a cross between a ‘poisoned chalice and mission impossible’ but said the temptation of leading his country would be too much to resist.

It feels like a long time since we have actually heard an Englishman admit they want to manage the national team. Most of the good ones, and there aren’t really that many to be honest, are understandably scared by the pressure that goes with managing the Three Lions.

But Redknapp is no shrinking violet and it seems the prospect of dealing with the nation’s unrealistic expectations isn’t about to put him off what should, in theory at least, be the ultimate prize for any manager.

And that is so refreshing.

Because when push comes to shove, I don’t think there is anybody else I would rather have running the national team than Redknapp.

He is not perfect by a long stretch of the imagination but if anyone can turn round the England team and restore some much-needed pride, belief and passion to the squad, it’s football favourite cockney.

The former West Ham United and Portsmouth boss has always believed in fast, flowing, attacking football and all of his teams have eventually, if not instantly, played that way.

And he does have a pretty decent record of turning sow’s ears into silk purses. England might not be a complete sow’s ear under Fabio Capello, but they certainly aren’t a silk purse either.

The million dollar question is will the Football Association have the courage needed to put someone so outspoken and opinionated in charge of the team?

When Capello slips quietly away next summer after leading England to their traditional quarter-final defeat at Euro 2012, there won’t be too many candidates for the job. Especially of the English variety.

But it will take some courage – a commodity the FA is traditionally in short supply of – to appoint a manager who won’t hesitate to criticise things that need criticising or call a spade a spade.

Having said that, if they don’t go for Redknapp what other options do they have?

Foreign coaches have been tried twice now and on both occasions results have ranged from poor to average. And that’s being kind. Jose Mourinho is always an option and would be a very acceptable foreigner to have at the helm. But he would be exceptionally expensive and unlikely to leave Real Madrid until he has achieved something there.

And in terms of Englishmen, the cup hardly runneth over. You have Stuart Pearce, who has been unofficially in training for the job for years but who hasn’t exactly taken the under-21 world by storm.

Then there is Roy Hodgson, who has the benefit of international management experience but whose stock crumbled thanks to that rather bizarre and fruitless period at Liverpool.

By my reckoning, unless the FA go off the wall and look to the lower leagues, that only really leaves Steve Bruce and Neil Warnock. And unless either Sunderland or Queens Park Rangers finish in the top four and win the FA Cup, that just isn’t going to happen.

Increasingly, as I continue to write this piece, it is actually beginning to feel that Redknapp is not only the best option for England manager, he is the only option. At least the only sensible and viable option.

I am not a firm believer in fate but it looks very much like the gods who watch over football are guiding England towards Redknapp in a way that makes it feel almost like destiny.

And I for one don’t have any problem with that.

In fact, I only wish the gods would get a move on and make it all happen now rather than having to wait another 10 months.

Not keen on Kean

The only thing that surprises me about the current civil unrest at Blackburn Rovers is that the club’s new owners didn’t see this coming.

Yesterday, up to a thousand fans were planning to protest before the club’s game against Arsenal, demanding the removal of manager Steve Kean.

A week earlier, a collection of fan groups sent a letter to the owners asking them to remove Kean from the job. They have frankly had their fill of a manager who should never have taken the job in the first place and whose appointment last season only served to show the naivety of the club’s new owners, the Indian family behind the Venky’s chicken empire.

Kean is probably a very nice chap. But he is way out of his depth managing a club in the Premier League. Up till his appointment to the Ewood Park hotseat he had never actually been a manager, only an assistant.

I can only imagine that when they put him in charge, the owners were trying to go for a cheap option and hope for the best. But the best has simply not materialised and Blackburn, barring some sort of miracle performance against Arsenal yesterday, will be rooted to the foot of the table.

In response to the unrest, the owners issued a statement calling on supporters to back their team during these difficult times.

But that again shows a naivety towards the way modern football works.

The fans will never stop supporting their team, that goes without saying; but once they have lost confidence in their manager there is no turning back.

It probably doesn’t matter now if Blackburn go on a six-match winning streak, the seeds of doubt and unrest have been sown and the fans will just be waiting for their next defeat to turn up the already unbearable heat on Kean.

In truth, the manager should probably have gone in the summer. He turned a team that was reasonably secure under Sam Allardyce into one that only avoided relegation on the last day of the season.

There must have been some sort of clue in that, that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t the right man for the job.

As it stands now, Kean is a dead man walking. It is no longer a case of if he will go, but when he leaves.

It would be better for everyone involved – the manager, the fans, the club and the owners – if the situation was resolved sooner rather than later.

Alternatively, of course, they could wait till next summer and see if Capello fancies working in the Championship.

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade