FA target O'Neill after Mourinho snub

Although the Aston Villa boss has repeatedly said he wishes to concentrate on his club career, he has not told the FA he is unavailable.

The FA will want to make sure of O'Neill's position before settling on a final name from the four remaining candidates - either he, Italian duo Fabio Capello and Marcello Lippi, or former Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Mourinho was the only candidate who ticked all the boxes: he is a 'world class' coach - something that FA chief executive Brian Barwick has told FA board members he will find - he knew the English game and he spoke the language fluently.

Capello and Lippi can also be regarded as world class - especially Lippi who is already a World Cup winner from last year - but both have rudimentary English, something that could be a significant factor.

O'Neill's claims now look increasingly strong, while the fourth option is Klinsmann, who has limited managerial experience but won plaudits as coach of the Germany side that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup last year.

Klinsmann has some knowledge of English football from his time at Spurs and speaks the language well, but lived in California while Germany coach - a situation he would need to change if he was to be offered the job.

Barwick has now finished consulting the 12 leading figures in the English game about the appointment and, despite Mourinho's announcement, he and Brooking are hopeful of having the name of the next England manager in time for the next FA board meeting on December 19, just nine days away.

Mourinho's announcement was not unexpected as conflicting reports have been emanating from his camp over the last few days.

He said in a statement: "After deep and serious thinking, I decided to exclude myself from being England manager despite being a fantastic position for me. I'm sure FA will hire a great manager, one able to place the team back where it belongs."