Redknapp a front runner to replace Capello

The English FA has confirmed that Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp would be a front runner to replace Fabio Capello as England coach in 2012.

Redknapp has been having a successful term with Spurs, having guided them to Champions League football for the first time in their history.

A procedure to find a new head coach has not yet been set up by the FA, however, the general secretary Alex Horne has been singing ‘Arry’s praises.

"Harry Redknapp is a great manager," Horne told the BBC.

"Tottenham are playing great football and to qualify for the Champions League (knockout stage) from a position of being fourth favourites in the group is huge testimony to that. I would expect Harry to make a long-list (for the England job). It may not be a very long long-list."

Fabio Capello is expected to leave the England job after the European Championship in 2012. Horne said there’s plenty of time to find a new head honcho and that he may not necessarily be an English man.

"He's there until 2012, which gives me 18, 19 months to prepare for that process,” Horne said.

“It is not a policy decision that they the contenders) would be English. It is an absolute preference for certain individuals. It is not yet a board policy decision. We thought about this long and hard when we got Fabio Capello. We got the right man for the job and that is what we will do again."