Teachers England turn to greatest pupils for glory

LONDON, Apr 28 (Reuters) Luiz Felipe Scolari's appointment as the next England manager would have the nation's soccer cognoscenti in raptures, Little Englanders in despair and the British media rubbing their hands with glee.

Scolari, the man behind Brazil's 2002 World Cup triumph and who met with FA officials in Lisbon on Wednesday, has a CV that makes those of his English rivals look almost laughable.

A trophy winner back home at club level with Gremio and Palmeiras, including the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, Scolari won the game's biggest prize in Japan four years ago and subsequently steered host nation Portugal to the final of Euro 2004.

In both tournaments, England were knocked out by Scolari's teams -- a fact to be borne in mind by critics who say the 57-year-old knows nothing about English football.

He has since guided the Portuguese to the World Cup finals in Germany, after which his contract expires, as does Sven-Goran Eriksson's near six-year tenure with England.

It is an impressive set of achievements for a man reputed for his no-nonsense approach to the Beautiful Game, which he famously once declared dead and buried.

Without even being appointed, Scolari has already won over a section of England's fans.

As one wrote in a BBC online poll on Thursday: ''If he helps us to win trophies it will not be 'England with a foreign manager' written on the cups, it will just read 'England', something that has been absent for too long.'' The English alternatives: Steve McClaren of Middlesbrough, Bolton Wanderers' Sam Allardyce and Charlton's Alan Curbishley, can only muster a League Cup victory between them, when Boro beat Bolton in a dour affair in 2004.

It's very small beer indeed.

It also reflects the fact that none of the top five Premier League clubs -- Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal -- are managed by an Englishman.

The merciless logic is that without belonging to a big club, an English coach cannot expect to get the experience that would then qualify him for a credible tilt at the national job.

REDKNAPP'S POINT The problem facing the English hopefuls was made by Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp.

MORE REUTERS PM BD1458