Greg Clarke, the Football Association Chairman, has claimed it is still too early in Eddie Howe's career to be given the England job despite a hugely successful spell at Bournemouth, which has seen the club get promoted from League One to the Premier League under his guidance.
After a comfortable win against Malta and a disappointing 0-0 draw with Slovenia, Clarke also suggested that interim manager Gareth Southgate has two more games to show why he should succeed the disgraced Sam Allardyce as England's new manager.
When speaking about Howe to the media, as quoted inThe Guardian, Clarke remained cautious over the Bournemouth manager's prospects of becoming the next England coach.
When you look at people like Eddie Howe, the question isn't whether he is a really good bloke, because he is. He's a wonderful leader, he's energetic, he's honourable, he's respected by football, he's respected by footballers,
The question is: at what point to do you throw him into the furnace of being an international manager? Is it now, is it in five years, is it in 10 years? That's something that he will be thinking about. Because it is a really tough role that most people fail in.�
In spite of Clarke's comments, Howe remains a popular candidate amongst fans and in the media.
Parliamentary committee time being used to advance case for Eddie Howe to be appointed England manager during questioning of FA chair Clarke
Even the culture, media and sport committee member Jason McCartney MP has pledged his support for Howe getting what he describes as the "ultimate job".
But Clarke would go on to say, Do we give him enough time to acquire the skills so he has a pretty good chance of success, or do we throw in early? That's the trade-off we have to make. Talent like that you don't want to burn by overexposing it too early,�
Nevertheless, the FA are said to still prefer to appoint an English manager with Premier League experience after the games against Scotland and Spain next month.