Glenn Roeder for England Job

Glenn Roeder is quickly emerging as the front runner to land the manager's job with the national side.

The FA have a long tradition of spotting tactical talent in English managers that had previously gone unseen. Graham Taylor and Steve McClaren are the obvious examples in England's recent history. Who can forget the howls of laughter from fans and pundits alike when these two appointments were made. But the FA have never been afraid of ridicule when it has come to appointing the manager of the national side, which surely means Roeder is now the obvious choice to get the England job.

Glenn Roeder, like Taylor and McClaren before him, has little experience of managing sides in European competitions but he has years of experience in the English game. Roeder's first managerial job was with Gillingham. Roeder was unlucky not to get Gillingham relegated in only his first season in charge, when the side were unfortunate to beat the bottom club in the penultimate game of the season.

However Roeder's talent had not gone unnoticed and he was poached by Watford. In just three seasons at Watford Roeder led a previously successful side into the bottom three of the first division. Unfortunately Roeder was sacked before he could finish the job and ironically Graham Taylor replaced him and got most of the plaudits when Watford were subsequently relegated.

Roeder's next job was as second in command to Chris Waddle at Burnley. In one season the pair pushed Burnley to the bottom of the league but Roeder was again unlucky when the team avoided relegation in the last game of the season.

However Roeder's talents had again not gone unnoticed and in 2001 he was given the manager's job at West Ham. With a team of some of the best young English players of their generation Roeder again steered his side into the bottom three but in a now familiar tale he was replaced before he could win relegation with the club.

The only blot on Roeder's otherwise untarnished record came when he was appointed Newcastle manager. Despite being in charge of the Toon for one and half seasons he failed to push Newcastle into the bottom three. However Roeder has recently been appointed manager at Norwich and he seems to have regained his touch as they remain win-less in his three games in charge.

The next England manager will have to work hard to avoid steering the national team into the next World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. With a managerial record like Glenn Roeder's and with the FA's history of England appointments it is not hard to see how Roeder has quickly emerged as the natural successor to Steve McClaren.