Thursday 30 June 2016 08:00, UK
Gareth Southgate is open to taking charge of England on a temporary basis, according to Sky sources.
Chief executive Martin Glenn suggested on Tuesday the Football Association could wait up to a year to name Roy Hodgson's permanent successor.
Hodgson's four-year reign ended on Monday after the 68-year-old resigned in the wake of England's embarrassing Euro 2016 exit to Iceland in the last 16.
Most of Thursday's newspapers claim Southgate is not interested in a role with England, but Sky sources understand he would be open to an approach from the FA.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who is entering the final year of his contract with the Gunners, and Leicester's Claudio Ranieri have been linked with the post while USA boss Jurgen Klinsmann - who has been backed by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher - is understood to be intrigued by the possibility of managing England.
Glenn refused to discuss names at Hodgson's final news conference but did concede that England U21 manager Southgate, who is the bookmakers' favourite for the permanent role, would be a "pretty obvious" interim solution should they not appoint Hodgson's successor by the time of the first World Cup qualifier away to Slovakia on September 4.
"We'll see," he said, when asked of the time scale. "We'd like to get one for the first World Cup qualifier, but if we won't, we have an interim plan in mind.
"We are not talking about names today, but it would be a pretty obvious one to pick.
We clearly need an inspirational manager who can harness all of the big resources that the English game has got, everything we have now got at St George's Park, to make us more resilient in tournaments.
"We just don't know yet who the runners and riders would be. We are going to scope out, which we start at the end of this week with [FA vice-chairman] David Gill and [technical director] Dan Ashworth.
"It is - what's the problem we need to solve?
"We clearly need an inspirational manager who can harness all of the big resources that the English game has got, everything we have now got at St George's Park, to make us more resilient in tournaments.
"That, I think, is a brief. We want to work that through, but it is an inspirational manager and management team to get the best out of a squad which has got high potential."
Glenn even suggested several people could take temporary control in a wide-ranging interview and did not rule Southgate out of the running for the permanent post, nor anyone else.
"As I said, it has got to be the best man or woman for the job," he said.
"More likely a man, but it's the best person for the job. I don't think we are ruling out anything.
"An ideal mix is somebody who has had experience of the English game, ideally at a significant level. That is what you would look for."
Glenn has not ruled out waiting until the end of the season should the right person become available then, with Wenger one such high-profile manager whose deal expires next summer.
"It is a possibility, of course," he said, when asked if he would be prepared to wait - a comment he later clarified was "unlikely" but not inconceivable.
"If you said, 'This person is an absolute shoo in, can you wait?' then we are well-placed I think with an interim solution.
"You might get interim solutions plural as we have had in the past - get a few managers to come and help.
"It is such an important decision, we have got to get the right person.
"To wait a few months - if that is what we had to do - I think would be the right decision."
