Sam Allardyce has not ruled himself out of the race to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager in 2012.
Rovers boss tight-lipped over Three Lions role
Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has not ruled himself out of the race to succeed Fabio Capello as England manager in 2012.
Italian Capello confirmed on Thursday he will stand down from the Three Lions role after the European Championship in two years' time, prompting fresh speculation over who will fill the vacated post.
Allardyce was interviewed for the job following Sven Goran Eriksson's departure in 2006, but lost out to Steve McClaren.
The 55-year-old has made no secret of his interest in moving into international management, and when asked if he would consider applying for the job when it becomes available, he simply said it was too soon to consider it.
"I don't think past one week," said Allardyce. "And if I get past one month then I'm very, very lucky."
Strain
Capello announced he would not be seeking a contract extension following England's victory over Switzerland on Tuesday, which marked their second win in two Euro 2012 qualifiers and relieved some of the strain on the Italian.
Allardyce thinks Capello may have acted in the knowledge the Football Association would not have offered him a longer stay following England's disappointing World Cup showing in South Africa.
The Rovers boss is hoping the Italian can now emulate Bobby Robson, who guided England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup already aware it would be his last tournament as manager.
"His contract runs out (in 2012) so I think he's probably pre-empted the fact that they probably wouldn't renew it before that and he can perhaps go out with a bang," he said.
"I seem to remember the FA told Bobby Robson he wasn't getting his contract renewed and we had the best World Cup we've ever had since 1966."
Even if Allardyce himself is again overlooked for the role, he is hoping for an English manager to succeed Capello, which the FA have indicated will be the case.
He added: "I'd always like to see an Englishman succeed but the politics that are behind it is very, very difficult to overcome sometimes because it depends where you are and what you're doing at that particular time if you're English."
