Inside secret England interviews as Pep Guardiola linked with Three Lions role

09 September 2023 , 07:00

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Pep Guardiola has been linked with the England job (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola in the Three Lions blazer whilst roaring instructions to his England charges - it can't happen, can it?

That's the scenario the Football Association (FA) are reportedly craving following the culmination of Euro 2024 next summer. Current manager Gareth Southgate is set to leave his role after the tournament in Germany when his contract expires.

Guardiola though, is under contract at Manchester City until 2025 and it would cost the FA a small fortune to secure an early release from the treble winners. And whether the Catalan would want to swap his role at Europe's most dominant club for the international stage is also a notion up for debate.

The likes of Newcastle manager Eddie Howe and former Chelsea boss Graham Potter have also been touted. But all candidates may not become public knowledge with the FA prone to holding secret talks over the years, and Mirror Football has looked back at some of the more infamous candidate sagas.

Curbishley misses interview - and England job

Back in 2006, Alan Curbishley was highly rated by his Premier League peers having seemingly worked wonders in establishing Charlton as a top-flight team.

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And therefore, it was of little surprise that he was in the frame for the England job with Sven Goran Eriksson set to leave. But his own interview process didn't exactly go to plan.

"There was definitely Sam Allardyce and obviously Steve McClaren and myself," he later revealed to a podcast. "I think Luiz Felipe Scolari was in it somewhere – I’m not too sure – and Martin O’Neill, I think, was in the interviews.

Charlton's Alan Curbishley missed his England interview (GETTY)

"It was during the season and they wanted to interview us on a Tuesday or something like that in a secret venue, and I couldn’t go because I had an FA Cup replay. So I missed that one, and I think my interview was hastily arranged at the FA! It eventually went to Steve McClaren, which I thought it would do because he’d been working with Sven and he knew the setup."

PowerPoint failure thwarts 'Big Sam'

Curbishley, as he alluded to, wasn't the only boss overlooked, with Allardyce confident his previous work at Bolton would see him installed.

And when it "became apparent they were positively encouraging English candidates to throw their hats into the ring," 'Big Sam' decided to go all out. "I wanted to do a real knock-your-socks-off interview for the FA, so I put together a PowerPoint which looked at every single detail," he told The Sun. "There was nothing missing. Nobody but nobody was going to beat it.

Sam Allardyce was denied a PowerPoint presentation (Getty Images)

"But then Brian Barwick, the chief executive, told me there were no PowerPoint facilities at the interview venue, so I had to print off hard copies for the panel. So much for the progressive FA."

A decade later, Allardyce did seemingly get his message across. He was probably left wishing there were no facilities available that time around too.

'Special One' says no to FA

Jose Mourinho was still at his mischievous best in 2007, and claims he turned down the England role before Fabio Capello was appointed did not sit well with either the Italian boss or the FA.

'The Special One' says he turned down England (Getty)

The latter vehemently denied the 'Special One' has been approached, only for the ex-Chelsea man to again fire back via his spokesperson in the press: The statement from the FA is not true," his representative told the Daily Star.

"He was offered the job before Capello. There was a meeting between the FA and Jose and his agent Jorge Mendes in London. There was a lot of talk between the FA and Mendes. Jose made a dossier for the FA about what changes England needed to make and he came up with a project for the World Cup. When the offer was made, Jose was in Portugal.'"

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Allardyce rival remains a mystery

When Allardyce did finally get the job he craved in 2016, he only did so after Arsene Wenger turned down the chance to speak to the FA whilst Steve Bruce was also interviewed.

But to this day, the identity of another candidate in the frame was not known. The reported that the FA search wasn't as straightforward as they made out and another contender, thought to be foreign, was also spoken to and considered.

Southgate fronts up to five-man panel

After Allardyce fell on his sword, Under 21s manager Gareth Southgate stepped up - but the FA were clearly taking no chances in the interview process.

The current England boss had to face a five-man committee consisting of Martin Glenn, FA Chairman, Greg Clarke, Technical Director Dan Ashworth, League Managers’ Association Chairman Howard Wilkinson, and his former international teammate Graham Le Saux. And to his credit, he publicly urged the FA to look at other candidates too.

Gareth Southgate has been tipped to leave after the Euros (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Image)

“There are often appointments at clubs without interviews, so young coaches don’t get opportunities," he said. "People just appoint managers without seeing what is out there, so it would be hypocritical for me to say the FA shouldn’t go through that.”

The race to replace Southgate is now seemingly on. So if Guardiola is somehow interested, he'd be well served to call ahead and check up on potential PowerPoint facilities....

Fraser Watson