Sport 09-10-2000 The Search For Keegan`s Successor who: Kevin Keegan what: Lies low as FA search for successor when: Yesterday snippet: Kevin Keegan shocked the nation by quitting as England football coach after the disappointing 1-0 defeat by Germany on Saturday. And today`s papers are rife with post-mortems on his career and speculation about who should succeed him. There is much concern that Keegan`s surprise departure may have scuppered England`s chances in the vital World Cup qualifier against Finland this week. "Of the 10 men who have been in charge of the England football team over the past 54 years," says an unsympathetic David Lacey in The Guardian, "Kevin Keegan will be remembered as a cheerleader who denied Wembley one last hurrah and then quit while he was behind". Matt Dickinson in The Times disagrees, at least on a technicality. "The timing of Keegan`s departure was widely condemned yesterday as convenient only for himself," he comments, "but at least he left before he damaged England`s World Cup qualification campaign any further". The FA can`t find a replacement - despite trebling the pay to £60,000 a week, says The Sun`s Mark Irwin. All the usual suspects are mentioned: Terry Venables, Alex Ferguson and of course FA technical director Howard Wilkinson, who has taken on the mantle for the game on Wednesday. But none are likely to fill Keegan`s shoes. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger would be a popular choice but is not expected to give up his post at Highbury. Italian coach Marcello Lippi, recently sacked by Internazionale, is high on the list of possible foreigners to take on the job. But Henry Winter in The Telegraph backs Aime Jacquet, who won the World Cup for France in 1998 despite fierce criticism. "When you look at the top teams in the Premier League, few are managed by Englishmen," admits FA chief executive Adam Crozier. "We don`t exactly have an abundance of English coaches to choose from." [... more]

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