Arsenal's Arsene Wenger tops shortlist of candidates being lined up for the England job

ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger has emerged as the frontrunner to be appointed as the new England head coach after Roy Hodgson resigned following the embarrassing elimination from the ongoing European Championships after the 1-2 loss to Iceland.

 

On Monday, England was surprisingly knocked out of the tournament by lowly and unfancied Iceland ranked some 22 places below them. Considering his position untenable, Mr Hodgson resigned immediately and the English FA began the process of looking for a new manager.

 

With the search having commenced, Mr Arsene Wenger is already at the top of the FA's list as the federations has said it wants someone with a lot of experience. Gareth Southgate will be placed in caretaker charge and is expected to lead the Three Lions into the World Cup qualifying campaign, which starts on September 4 against Slovakia.

 

A three man panel made up of FA chief executive Martin Glenn, technical director Dan Ashworth and vice chairman David Gill will make the final decision on who the new boss is. However, Mr Glenn said there will be no rush and that the FA are prepared to wait as long as it takes, maybe for up to a year if necessary, to get the right man.

 

Mr Wenger, who has one more season to run on his Arsenal deal, is the number one choice, while the likes of Claudio Ranieri and Brendan Rodgers are also on the shortlist. Mr Glenn revealed that FA power-brokers would even consult England’s senior players about the appointment and refused to rule out asking Sir Alex Ferguson.

 

Mr Ashworth added: “Arsene Wenger has been in the Premier League since 1996. He has got a fantastic understanding of the Premier League, of English players, of the English media and of the expectations of England."

 

Mr Glenn said: “We’d like to get one for the first World Cup qualifier but if we don’t we have an interim plan in mind. We clearly need an inspirational manager who can harness all of the resources that the English game, the big resources, has got, everything we have now got at St George’s Park, to make us more resilient in tournaments.

 

It is not yet clear if the FA has contacted Mr Wenger yet or if Arsenal will be prepared to let him go. Although Arsenal has found it hard winning trophies lately, Mr Wenger is widely respected in England for his free-flowing style of football that he brought to the club.