Eriksson wrestles with coaching conundrum

Sven Goran Eriksson is set to abandon the idea of grooming his eventual successor as manager of England. When he fills the vacancy created by the decision of his senior coach, Steve McClaren, to concentrate on Middlesbrough, he is more likely to recruit a club coach than a manager.

Eriksson, who will tonight lead the England players to Buckingham Palace for a reception with the Queen, was speaking in the Buckingham Suite of Aylesbury United's ground on the first day of a squad get-together. Noting that McClaren and Peter Taylor felt unable to balance the demands of club and country, the Swede said: "If I take someone working in a club, I don't think it can be a manager."

He added: "We lost Steve and Peter for the same reason. It was too much for them and too hard to focus on both jobs."

Eriksson confirmed that he would consult the Football Association's technical director ("if we have one," he added in the wake of Howard Wilkinson's departure for Sunderland; Les Reed currently fills that role on a temporary basis). He will also talk to the acting chief executive, David Davies, to his own assistant, Tord Grip, and to the players.

Suggesting he already had "names in mind", he was asked whether it might include foreign coaches. "They came from all over," he said, "including England".

There are two strong internal candidates, the England Under-21 coach David Platt and his Under-19 counterpart Stuart Baxter, another Scot. Externally, Eriksson is likely to consider Brian Kidd, the Leeds coach, and Sammy Lee, of Liverpool, who has experience of the current international set-up.

He aims to make the appointment in good time for England's friendly with Australia in February, a warm-up for the Euro 2004 qualifiers in Liechtenstein and at home to Turkey.

Among the players who reported for the three-day bonding and training exercise at a health resort in Hertfordshire was Steven Gerrard. Eriksson admitted he was "surprised" by the criticism of the Liverpool player by his manager, Gérard Houllier. "He [Houllier] is always a very diplomatic man, but also very intelligent. So before doing it he must have thought a lot about what he wanted to achieve."

Eriksson, who once called Gerrard "the ultimate midfielder", added: "Stevie told me [before the recent Macedonia and Slovakia games] he'd been playing bad football. You expect great things so it's a surprise if he's not playing well. But I don't want to interfere."