Trusty assistant: Sven Goran Eriksson brought with him Tord Grip

Manchester United have something similar now with Sir Alex Ferguson’s staff of Mike Phelan, Rene Meulensteen, Warren Joyce and Paul McGuinness. BUT in assembling his staff, Sir Alex does not always go with the tried and tested. When he appointed Carlos Queiroz and Steve McClaren, he had never met them before.

The new England manager should be able to bring one trusted assistant with him but the rest of the coaches should be people who can contribute to the FA over the next 10 years.

During my England career, the team worked best when Terry Venables was in charge and brought in Don Howe, a superb defensive coach, and Bryan Robson, people with whom he hadn’t previously worked.

Sven Goran Eriksson brought one trusted lieutenant in Tord Grip but then had the best young England coaches, in McClaren and Peter Taylor. Players are always more comfortable with that kind of set-up rather than one in which all the coaches are just old friends of the manager.

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