New England manager: Roy Hodgson's successor may be appointed by Thursday, Sam Allardyce still favourite

Wembley board meeting likely to rubber stamp decision, with Jurgen Klinsmann and Steve Bruce also in contention

Allardyce remains the favourite to succeed Hodgson (Getty)

The Football Association are expected to have decided on the identity of the next England manager by Thursday, when a full board meeting of the governing body will discuss the merits of Sam Allardyce, Jurgen Klinsmann and Steve Bruce.

The Wembley board meeting was scheduled ahead of the effort to recruit Roy Hodgson’s successor but has provided a deadline as the FA look to have their man in place ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign. Since three of the board members – Martin Glenn, Dan Ashworth and David Gill – comprise the small team tasked with identifying and recruiting the new manager, the full board may simply be asked to rubber stamp a decision the triumvirate have already reached.

With the governing body acutely aware of the risk of affecting pre-preparations of the clubs whose managers it has interviewed, it seems possible that an offer will be made this week to the preferred candidate – with Allardyce the front runner – and that the small details will be ironed out next week.

Glenn, the FA chief executive, has always felt that there are not fundamental problems with the quality of players at the national team’s disposal and it is with that view in mind that his organisation is rapidly looking to set things up for a smooth entry to the World Cup qualifiers. FA staff were in Slovakia on Tuesday to survey facilities and logistics ahead of the opening group game at the compact new stadium at Mrnava on September 4.

Sunderland’s Allardyce is thought to be happy with the idea of a young English coach working as his assistant within a future national structure, potentially providing a ready-made successor.

He is also likely to have communicated to the FA his positive outlook on the FA’s St George’s Park set-up. It has always been his view that the governing body could have built a new national stadium next to Birmingham’s NEC, on St George’s Park’s doorstep, and saved themselves a fortune at the same time.

He is also likely to be on the same wavelength as the FA with his view that this English side is not a bad one and that the system isn’t broken - despite the humiliating European Championships exit at the hands of Iceland.

Hull City have said that no official approach has been made by the FA about Bruce and have echoed Sunderland, in calling for a swift decision. But they have confirmed talks between Bruce the FA recruitment panel.

Hull said in a statement: "The club can confirm that manager Steve Bruce has held informal discussions regarding the England vacancy, although no official approach has been received from the FA.

”We would hope to see the FA conclude their business quickly in order to avoid further speculation regarding Steve ahead of what is a season of huge importance for the club following our return to the Premier League.“