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Are these Sunderland and former Spurs managers leading candidates for England?
Jurgen Klinsmann
Klinsmann falls under the category of Anglicised-foreigner, having spent two spells with Tottenham Hotspur where he won a lot of admirers with his self-effacing ‘diving’ celebration. He speaks impeccable English and is familiar with both the good and bad of our footballing culture. There will be a constituency of England supporters for whom the idea of a German in charge is too much to countenance.
Rather like former England boss Kevin Keegan, Klinsmann seems a very energetic and engaging character with a good sense of humour. One can imagine him as an excellent man manager; he certainly created a fantastic vibe around a German team who were in transition during the 2006 World Cup on home soil, reaching the semi-finals with exciting attacking verve.
Klinsmann’s USA team were also a good watch at the 2014 World Cup, reaching the last 16 and they have recently reached the Copa America last four. There have, however, been rather embarrassing defeats to Jamaica and Guatemala. Klinsmann was credited with starting Germany’s long recovery from the doldrums of the early 2000s (doldrums where they still reached the World Cup final), and some hope he could pick England up from their current low base.
A great deal of structural change went on in German football during that time though. It may be a touch fanciful to expect Klinsmann to initiate a similar change in English football single handedly.
Guus Hiddink
The avuncular Hiddink certainly has the experience and unflappable persona to cope with the pressure and scrutiny that goes with being England manager. The zenith of his career as an international manager was undoubtedly guiding South Korea to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup, though he also presided over a masterful Dutch side that reached the semis in France ‘98 only to crash out on penalties to Brazil. Russia got to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 under his guidance also, with Andrey Arshavin one of the players of the tournament.
Hiddink has the most international pedigree of any manager on this shortlist. His second spell as Chelsea caretaker manager was pretty uninspiring it has to be said, but the absence of day-to-day involvement might appeal to the 69-year-old.
Hiddink has a calm, pragmatic air about him and you get the sense his style would be more evolutionary than revolutionary. He is a safe pair of hands, but not a manager who sill stirs the passions too much. Perhaps that is what England need.