No candidates? No problem - FA chief vows to take time to find best England manager

Martin O'Neill, Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley have all said they will not leave their current posts but Barwick said he was not concerned.

Barwick said: "I'm not deterred - I'm determined to get the right person, the English footballing public is demanding that and it's my job to make sure we get that right."

He added that he understood the reaction of those fans who booed England players.

"We know that England fans are very disappointed and feel let down," said Barwick.

"I can't support people being booed but they pay their money and if that's they way they wish to express it, I can understand it.

"I think a huge part of what comes next is managing the intensity of the occasions, we have to make sure the players go on to the pitch feeling really good about themselves.

"Something I can bring to the party is how we can better manage that."

England's new manager will be faced with the same challenge that did for Steve McClaren: getting past Croatia to qualify for a major tournament.

The qualifying draw for the 2010 World Cup in Durban saw England placed in Group Six with top seeds Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra.

Barwick said: "It's an opportunity at a competitive level to pit our wits against a team that did us twice and an opportunity for the new coach when he's with us so see whether he can turn around our fortunes against a very good team.

"The reality is we have to improve. It's easy to concentrate the group on hese two teams but there's a lot of work to do elsewhere.

"There's a lot of travel facing us, the odd banana skin and a team that has beaten us twice in competitive games so there's a job of work to do."

The draw came a day after Michael Owen claimed no Croatia player would get into the England side.

The England striker was making the point that he felt his team-mates' failure to handle pressure cost them in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

"I don't think any of the Croatian team would get into our team," he told the News of the World. "Doesn't that tell you it is not about ability or technique but in the mind?"

Barwick will meet the FA's director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking on his return from South Africa to begin the process of finding McClaren's successor, but he would not be drawn on a time-frame or possible contenders.