Football News : Hoddle advises England to appoint caretaker

By Harry Harris, Football Correspondent

Glenn Hoddle believes England should be looking to appoint a caretaker manager for Euro 2012.

GettyImagesHarry Redknapp remains the favourite for the England job

• Shilton: Spurs blip good for FA

• Redknapp focused on Spurs

• Pearce: Plans in place

With the season drawing to a close, the Football Association is preparing to name a successor to Fabio Capello, with the national side still under the stewardship of Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce.

It is expected that Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp will be approached about taking on the job but Hoddle, who managed England from 1996 until 1999, believes appointing a permanent boss prior to the tournament will add unnecessary pressure.

He told ESPNsoccernet: "An astute appointment by the FA would a caretaker, which would defuse all the pressure on the players and the manager who go to the tournament.

"This is such a big tournament that the players and manager are under enormous scrutiny. It cannot possibly be a good idea to subject a new full-time England manager to all of that with so little preparation time.

"All the small details of the preparation have already been sorted out by the FA, and it would make sense to bring in a caretaker and that will bring down 50% of all the hype, and expectation levels from the supporters.

"The players will turn up feeling that they have nothing to prove to the manager - they will feel as though they all have a chance of making the team, instead of knowing that the new manager will have a fixed idea and they are just turning up to make up the numbers, which is never conducive to a harmonious squad."

Hoddle believes Redknapp would accept the job, but feels Spurs will put up a fight to keep him despite the side's dismal form in recent months.

Hoddle says: "It might be tempting to stay at Spurs, where he has built so much. It was the same for me at Chelsea - it was tempting to want to carry on what I had started. But when your country calls, especially being an English coach, it is hard - in fact, impossible - to turn it down.

"But there will be stumbling blocks, as Spurs won't make it easy for the FA, that's for sure. I know also that Spurs have had a wobble and hit a bad patch but, if Harry was the right man for the job a few months back, he's the right man for the job now. It might not be as easy as everyone thinks to get him out of Tottenham."