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Rooney: Next England manager doesn’t have to be English

His latest success, a 2-1 win in Nice on Monday, means Iceland qualified for the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, where they face France, whereas Hodgson resigned after yet another unsuccessful tournament for England.

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Whoever replaces Roy Hodgson at the helm of England has a huge job ahead of them, according to goalkeeper Joe Hart.

“We are not talking about names but it would be a pretty obvious one to pick”.

Shearer called for a double act of Southgate and Glenn Hoddle, who as coach oversaw another England failure at the 1998 World Cup. That’s what happens. Why do we not do well in competitions, in a tournament, when we won every game in qualifying?

“We are looking for the best person, not necessarily the best Englishman”.

“I think this group of players as they mature will show they are worthy of wearing the England shirt”, he said – fan chants in Nice having suggested precisely the opposite. Goalkeeper Joe Hart, who let the second Iceland goal squirm under his fingers, said the humiliation had left English football “in a low place”.

“I’m not saying we should have an English manager”.

He, FA technical director Dan Ashworth and FA vice-chairman David Gill, the former Manchester United director, will lead the search for Hodgson’s replacement.

England captain Wayne Rooney insists Roy Hodgson always had the players’ support, labelling reports they had lost faith in the outgoing manager “completely untrue”.

Wenger’s contract at the Emirates is due to expire at the end of next season, however, and Glenn has previously admitted his belief that he would be a strong candidate for the England job. But I was told by everybody that it was important that I appear and I guess that’s partly because people are still smarting from our poor performance. I don’t think that’s a matter for the public.

“The day of the wedding is the seventh, so I’m not sure what he’d do if we got to the final (on July 10)”.

“I think it is somebody who has got clearly the track record but also the breadth of experience – not to just stand on the sideline and holler, but to plan”.

Hart, who made an error in conceding the eventual victor in Nice, said there was a huge job awaiting Hodgson’s successor. If they’d played better last night, maybe it would not have needed repairing. I’m sure these players will live up to expectations and get better and better.

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He said: “Before the game I was quite taken aback by the reaction of “oh these little Icelanders and their 300,000 people” – they’re a good team”.

Nice bomb threat