Mourinho rules out England job

Jose Mourinho, who many sports commentators were promoting yesterday as the best possible choice to succeed Steve McClaren as England football coach, has ruled himself out. 'The Special One', as he liked to be known at Chelsea FC where he won two Premier League titles, says he doesn't want the job. He would prefer to hang on for a club job to come free.

Since Mourinho sensationally quit Chelsea after falling out with the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich in September, he has been kicking his heels back home in Portugal. But although he is said to be frustrated at having to wait for a new job - "he's like a lion in a cage" said a BBC sports correspondent - he would not welcome the frustration of working with players for the short periods of time a national coaching post allows.

Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph reports today that England's first-half display against Croatia on Wednesday night was so bad that members of the FA's executive board began discussing the sacking of McClaren at half-time.

Over tea and sandwiches in the Wembley Suite, FA chairman Geoff Thompson is said to have told his fellow directors that unless England, trailing 2-0, produced a second-half comeback, then they should meet the following morning to decide whether to fire him. In the event, the FA took less than 10 minutes to send McClaren packing. ·