Wilkinson critical of FA planning

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The Football Association have promised a 'root and branch' inquiry into England's abysmal failure to qualify for Euro 2008, but Wilkinson, a former technical director at Soho Square who took charge of England for one game in 1999, insists experience suggests the FA will not act decisively

And Wilkinson blasted the FA's decision not to build a national football centre in Burton, saying on Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme: "The national football centre in itself was not as important as the message it gave. Had it gone ahead, the FA would have been saying 'we mean business' in the critical areas of player development and coach education. Unfortunately that was not the case."

He added: "Sir Trevor Brooking has been fighting manfully for the last couple of years to get it back on the agenda.

"But the political tangle of bramble that is the FA is a problem. To get them to focus on the core issues of playing and coaching is very difficult.

"If we don't use this opportunity to address the problems, and we haven't used chances like this in the past so there's no reason to be optimistic, then we will continue on our downward slope.

"The number of quality players we produce gets worse through lack of opportunity. We need a plan and it must cover the whole of football.

"It will require huge effort and must remain top priority for the next 10 years."