Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp said Friday he was “flattered” to be the odds-on favourite to replace Fabio Capello as England manager but was cautious about combining the job with his club role.
The Football Association (FA) indicated they could opt for a ‘caretaker’ manager to steer the side at the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine in just four months’ time following Capello’s shock resignation on Wednesday – just hours after Redknapp was cleared of tax evasion charges.
A host of other Premier League managers have backed Redknapp for the England role, with the 64-year-old, whose Tottenham team are third in the top-flight, the outstanding English candidate to replace Capello.
“It is flattering, other managers have come out and said nice things and I appreciate everybody’s support really,” said Redknapp at Tottenham’s training ground on Friday ahead of their league clash against Newcastle.
However, as for being in charge of both Tottenham and England, a wary Redknapp said: “It is hard enough managing a league club let alone managing your country, it’s two very difficult jobs.
“I think your focus has got to be on one job, you can’t be going home thinking, ‘Who’s playing well in this situation?’
“I can’t take my eye off the ball at Tottenham at the moment because we’re looking to get Champions League football, we’re still in the FA Cup and I owe it to them to continue to keep completely focused on the job I’m doing here.
“It wouldn’t be fair to anybody here if I started to let my thoughts wander elsewhere,” he added with Tottenham bidding for their first English title since 1961.
Capello resigned on Wednesday after the FA stripped John Terry of the England captaincy without consulting the Italian manager as the Chelsea defender prepares to contest a charge of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand at a trial which will take place in July – after Euro 2012.