England announcing new captain

Roy Hodgson London - Arabstoday Roy Hodgson was set to be named as England's next football manager on Tuesday after holding talks with FA chiefs about taking over the vacant post. The West Bromwich Albion boss emerged as the surprise front-runner for the England job on Sunday as the FA confirmed it had ignored the popular clamour for Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp to be appointed. Hodgson held around four hours of discussions with senior FA officials at Wembley on Monday, paving the way for the 64-year-old's appointment to the most demanding role in English football. The Daily Mail reported that Hodgson would begin work on England's plans for next month's European Championship in tandem with his daily responsibilities at West Brom, who still have two Premier League games remaining. The newspaper reported that Hodgson's agent was hammering out the details of a contract expected to be worth around £3 million ($4.9 million, 3.7 million euros) a year before the FA made an announcement sometime on Tuesday. Hodgson's emergence as the likely successor to Fabio Capello has brought a mixed response from fans and the media, with a lingering sense of incredulity that no approach had been made to Redknapp.   However Hodgson, who was sacked by Liverpool after only six months last season, received support from fellow managers including Bolton's Owen Coyle. "I am absolutely thrilled," Coyle said. "If Roy decides to take the job, there is no doubt he ticks every box in terms of what England are looking for. "He has a proven track record and international experience. Obviously people made a lot of Harry being the favourite and I think you have two outstanding candidates there. "If it is an English manager you are looking for, then those are the two you certainly would have been looking to choose between." Meanwhile England's 1966 World Cup final hero Sir Geoff Hurst, insists Hodgson can help England mount a credible challenge at Euro 2012. "Whether we had a manager or not, I still think we are capable of getting at least to the semi-finals," said Hurst. "I don't see any reason why we can't get to that level and if we can, you never know what could happen. "Roy has not been involved in the preparations to date and that's not ideal. "When you have a manager in place quite a while before, the preparation is going to be very natural, as it was with us in 1966. "But, in some respects, I see that as a positive. "It might take the pressure off, certainly from the media and the fans, to be successful this year."