FA set for more Curbishley talks - report
Alan Curbishley remains in the running to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson as England manager, with newspaper reports claiming he will have a second interview with the Football Association this week.
Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren is the favourite to take over after the World Cup with former Celtic chief Martin O’Neill also in the running as well as Bolton manager Sam Allardyce.
Curbishley’s chances seemed to have slipped over the last week with Charlton bowing out of the FA Cup in a replay against McClaren’s Middlesbrough, before the Addicks boss revealed he had had no further contact with the FA since an initial informal meeting with the body’s chief executive Brian Barwick.
He said on Friday: “I have had no second meeting and no conversation to set one up either.”
Curbishley has also complained that Charlton’s season has been “hijacked” by the ongoing search for a new England boss, but it appears he will now have to put up with the speculation for a little longer.
McClaren is the leading home-grown candidate to take over from Eriksson after the World Cup, and is currently assistant coach to the national team.
The process of appointing Eriksson’s successor is nearing its climax, but the FA are anxious to avoid charges of destabilising the position of current club managers.
And it now appears an announcement will not be forthcoming this week as the FA continue their recruitment process.
An FA spokesman was quoted in The Daily Telegraph confirming there are no deadlines set for a decision to be made: “No final decision has been made and, as we have said all along, the timing of the process will be determined by the commitments of the candidates in question.”
