Harry Redknapp has suggested that the English FA should be carefully considering their succession plan beyond incoming boss Thomas Tuchel, with an ex-Rangers manager on his list.
Tuchel is set to begin his role as England national team manager in the New Year. The 51-year-old has only penned an 18-month contract to replace Gareth Southgate as the emphasis goes towards winning the 2026 World Cup.
Beyond that, Redknapp would like to see an Englishman return in charge, and reckons they should be contacting legends such as Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Frank Lampard.
He name-checked Gerrard's "huge success" at Rangers, where he guided the Light Blues to the Scottish Premiership title after going the entire 2020-21 league campaign unbeaten.
Things haven't gone great for the Liverpool icon since departing Ibrox for Aston Villa in November 2021, with his tenure lasting less than a year. He's now at Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia...but for how long remains to be seen.
His current club have tasted victory just once from their last nine games and it's been made clear that Gerrard must generate a positive reaction against Al Riyadh on November 24.
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If he does lose his job, Redknapp believes he'd be a perfect candidate to work alongside Tuchel or England U21s boss Lee Carsley at the FA.
“Thursday's 3-0 win was superb but it doesn't alter the fact that if Carsley wasn't the answer now, he won't be next time around either," the former Tottenham Hotspur boss wrote in his The Sun column.
“And the next time might not be that long away. Tuchel has an 18-month deal ? it's all about winning the World Cup. Not about building for the future, about unearthing young talent, the next generation. It's about a trophy and then, after that, quite probably looking for another boss again. So if that's the case, where does that leave us?
“As Under-21 chief, Carsley should be a shoo-in. Only he's plainly not. The pathway system, the coaching conveyor belt supposed to produce managers as well as players, will grind to a halt. Now it may be Newcastle's Eddie Howe is the obvious choice anyway. He's certainly the only one on the horizon right now, if they want an Englishman at least.
“Yet that doesn't mean there shouldn't be alternatives. Others in the set-up passing on their knowledge, their expertise, while all the while putting themselves in the frame. And there are some obvious candidates, too. Men who never let their country down as members of England's Golden Generation as players but now kicking their heels.
“I know one of them, Ashley Cole, is part of the FA's coaching team and bringing him in on a full-time basis was a great call. But there should be others alongside, like John Terry, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, if he fancies coming back from Saudi Arabia.
"A trio with close to 300 caps between them, who would offer so much to the national set-up. Why someone hasn't given Terry a job is beyond me. My God, what a winner, what a leader! A brilliant organiser, a great talker, but kicking his heels out of the game.
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“And although the other two haven't had the greatest time as managers, there are reasons for that. Yes, Stevie struggled at Aston Villa after huge success with Rangers but he certainly shouldn't be written off for one failure. Every manager has at least one on the CV. Don't forget that Gareth Southgate wasn't a roaring success at Middlesbrough but look at the job he did with England.
“It's the same with Frank. He's taken over basket-case clubs where he never really had a chance, so the same applies with him as well. All three have such great knowledge, you only have to listen to them talk. So bring them into the system. Have them working alongside Carsley. Maybe even have one on Tuchel's backroom team although I realise that's unlikely. But for Heaven's sake, make some use of them. If not, we won't be back at square one when the hunt begins for the next England manager, we'll be a mile behind it.”
