The FA must target the best in class to replace Gareth Southgate - regardless of whether they're English, writes SIMON JORDAN

In an ideal world the next England manager should be English. But we don’t live in an ideal world and the FA have to be targeting the best in class, not just someone based on their passport.

If Gareth Southgate’s successor is appointed solely out of an obligation to appease those who argue the national team manager must be from these shores, then the FA will have made a big mistake.

Because let’s be honest, 58 years without winning a major trophy is pretty embarrassing for an elite football nation. That’s not English arrogance or entitlement, it’s just a fact.

There is no reason why Spain and France can succeed so regularly in international football and we can’t. 

We have elite players who have won big trophies both at home and abroad. They know what winning looks like and yet, when it comes to international football, they come up short.

Southgate has to take some responsibility for that. For the last eight years we have had a manager who was very capable of creating team spirit, managing the media and changing the narrative around England. But if we’re brutally honest, it’s also been a terrible waste give the talent at his disposal. 

One of the biggest crimes in life is that of wasted potential and I feel England have missed yet another opportunity this summer.

The England job should be an honour and a privilege, not a chore — but we need a manager who can set the team up to fulfil their undoubted potential, play on the front foot and go at teams. If that man is English then hallelujah — but If the best candidate is from abroad then so be it.

I guarantee no one would care where the manager was from if England ended up winning the World Cup or Euros.