FA won’t rush to replace Capello before Euro 2012

WEMBLEY, England: Even with players already backing Harry Redknapp for the job and the European Championship only four months away, the English Football Association said Thursday it will not rush to hire Fabio Capello’s successor as England coach.

Capello quit Wednesday following a disagreement with FA Chairman David Bernstein, who had stripped John Terry of the England captaincy.

“There is clearly a preference for an Englishman,” Bernstein said of the opening. “There is a preference for an English person or a British person, but in the end we want the best person. Clearly an English or a British person would have a good start of the matter.” England players Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney have already called on the FA to hire Redknapp, a Londoner who is the manager at Tottenham.

“We can’t be driven by that,” Bernstein said. “We have to put a proper shortlist together ... we don’t want to rush anything. There’s no need to rush anything. We’ll give it proper consideration and it’ll have high priority.” England under-21 coach Stuart Pearce will take charge of England’s friendly against the Netherlands on Feb. 29. England’s Euro 2012 opener is on June 11 against France.

Redknapp, who has led Tottenham into third place in this season’s Premier League, has long spoken of his belief that the next England coach should be English and also that the job is the pinnacle for any Englishman.

However, he has also said that he would personally miss the daily interaction with players that comes with working for a club.

“I think we’re jumping the gun a little bit here,” Keith Mills, a nonexecutive director at Tottenham, told BBC Radio.

“Whether Harry will be approached is not a foregone conclusion. If he is, then Harry has got a big decision to make.” Redknapp said talk of him taking the England job was premature.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Redknapp told Sky Sports News.

The backing for the 64-year-old Redknapp came from two of England’s most prominent players came on Twitter. Rooney said he was “gutted” that Capello quit, and then added: “Got to be English to replace him. Harry Redknapp for me.” Ferdinand, who is Rooney’s teammate at Manchester United and briefly served as captain under Capello, echoed Rooney’s remarks.

“I think we need an English manager now, we don’t need anything else lost in translation,” Ferdinand wrote on Twitter. “Harry Redknapp would be my choice by a distance.”