Mourinho 'invites England offer'
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has reportedly expressed an interest in becoming the new England manager.
Mourinho, who left Chelsea in September, said he would be prepared to talk to the Football Association.
"You will have to speak to the FA to see if they are interested in offering me the job," he told the Sun newspaper.
"I cannot say what I think until they say they are interested. Tell the FA to come and get me. We will have to wait and see, but I rule nothing out."
Mourinho would be a popular choice to replace Steve McClaren at the helm with England because of his hugely impressive record with Chelsea and Porto.
He won two Portuguese championships, the Uefa Cup and the Champions League with Porto, before leaving to win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup with the Blues.
The 44-year-old had been tipped to stay in club management in Europe, having previously suggested that he would only be interested in coaching his native Portugal at international level.
FA chief executive Brian Barwick has said that nationality "would not be an issue" when it came to appointing the next England coach.
England, who have dropped down to the second pot of seeds in qualification for the major tournaments, avoided Portugal in Sunday's draw for the World Cup.
Barwick will lead the FA's search for a new coach after they missed out on a place at Euro 2008, alongside the organisation's development director Sir Trevor Brooking.
The FA has already had to listen to several potential candidates rule themselves out of contention for the position with Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill, West Ham's Alan Curbishley and Newcastle's Sam Allardyce all distancing themselves from speculation.
Is Mourinho the right man for England? Not so sure myself.
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and.........To try to keep it all in one thread.........
Houllier backed for England job
Gerard Houllier must be a candidate to become England coach, says ex-Football Association vice-chairman David Dein.
Former Liverpool boss Houllier took over as France Football Federation technical director after leaving Lyon.
Dein said: "It would be folly to ignore Gerard Houllier, his ability and what he has achieved in the game."
Houllier has support within the FA, but BBC Sport understands there has been no contact as yet, or from the Republic of Ireland, who may also make a move.
Dein, the former Arsenal vice-chairman who brought Houllier's close friend Arsene Wenger to England, was behind the FA's ill-fated move to bring Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari in as successor to Sven-Goran Eriksson.
He said: "Gerard Houllier is not the technical director of the French national team for nothing."
Dein is happy to push the claims of another foreign candidate as England coach, adding: "It was no secret I favoured Luiz Felipe Scolari last time, but everyone said that was heresy.
"A lot of people wanted an England manager when Sven left - now public opinion is saying just go for the best.
"Unfortunately Steve McClaren didn't work out. It would be heresy to say there is no English manager worthy of the job. I just believe you have to go for the best man whatever nationality."
Houllier is likely need some serious persuasion to take over a role with England - not because of the high-profile pressures of the job, but because he has only just taken on a role he has filled successfully in the past with the FFA.
He helped set up France's ground-breaking training centre at Clairefontaine, which was regarded as the catalyst for their World Cup success in 1998 and bringing through a succession of world-class players.
Houllier won the Uefa Cup, the FA Cup and had two League Cup triumphs in a six-year spell at Liverpool before losing his job in 2004, then went on to win back-to-back titles with Lyon in France.
But he remains an influential figure within Uefa's technical department and his success in building up France's coaching structure and system has impressed Dein and others within the FA hierarchy.
