England to wait on appointing new coach

The Football Association (FA) revealed on Friday that they intend to wait until the "back end of the season" before appointing a successor to Fabio Capello as England coach.

Alex Horne, the governing body's general secretary, told BBC Sport that despite having several candidates in mind, the FA did not want to be rushed into making a decision.

"There's definitely a list," he said. (We) talk about it regularly. It's a back end of the season decision for us.

"A lot of the managers on the list are employed and we don't want to interrupt anyone's season."

His comments follow similar remarks made by FA director of football Trevor Brooking.

"I think we'll take our time, and try to make sure we're not locked into any particular time scale," said Brooking.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is the strong favourite to take up the role, having received widespread backing in the media and from members of the current England squad.

England Under-21 coach Stuart Pearce took the reins for Wednesday's 3-2 friendly defeat at home to the Netherlands.

The former England left-back says he is prepared to continue in the role until Euro 2012 this summer, but does not believe he has the credentials to succeed Capello on a long-term basis.

However, Brooking said that Pearce, 49, would be considered as a potential candidate.

"He's made it clear, if we're in a situation where we want him to take it, he'd be only too pleased, " said Brooking.

"He's done really well this week, and you can see his enthusiasm. He's relished the chance."