Taylor Criticises FA AS Scolari Pulls Out
Ex England manager Graham Taylor accussed the FA of looking amateurish as Luiz Felipe Scolari ruled himself out of the running for the England job.
Taylor said: “What a mess this is.”
“I am very, very disappointed with the way the FA has handled the structure and the selection process.”
“There is not enough structure and there are too many people involved.”
Howard Wilkinson, chairman of the League Manager’s Association and a former caretaker England manager said he was not surprised by Scolari’s announcement.
Wilkinson said: “I am exasperated. The way things have developed so far, it has almost been Monty Python-esque”
“This does not do anybody any good. I would have thought that there are serious-minded people within the FA who are now looking back and saying that they would not have done it this way.”
“The question now is ‘where do we go from here’?”
Wilkinson added that he did not understand Scolari’s reasons for rejecting the job.
“I was surprised at the reasons given having seen the way the Brazilian media infiltrate their players’ lives,” Wilkinson said.
“I was surprised that after 24 hours of moderate press intrusion he has had a change of heart. I find the reasons strange.”
“It’s difficult now for the Football Association as there seems to be a lot of debris and baggage around which has to be swept up.”
Wilkinson feels that one of an English trio of Steve McClaren, Sam Allardyce or Alan Curbishley should now get the job.
He added: “I have said all along that it would be the right decision to appoint an English manager.”
“The three leading English candidates all have the ability and the potential to move into that job and do a good job.”