Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has emerged as the early favourite to succeed Steve McClaren as England [Images] manager, English bookmakers said on Friday.
The Northern Irishman was interviewed for the job after Sven-Goran Eriksson departed last year, saying he would have been "absolutely foolish to turn it down".
O'Neill, who has been in charge at Villa Park for 18 months, is rated at 3-1, with Italian Fabio Capello, interested and available after leaving Real Madrid at the end of last season, not far behind at 7-2.
Jose Mourinho, out of work since leaving Chelsea in September, is considered a 6-1 shot while former England striker-turned TV pundit Alan Shearer, a man with no management experience, is the shortest-priced Englishman at 10-1. FA officials said on Thursday that they were in no rush to appoint a replacement for McClaren, sacked in the wake of England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 [Images].
England have friendlies against France [Images] and Switzerland [Images] arranged for early next year, while their next competitive match will not come until they begin their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign next September.
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