The former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, is first choice with bookmaker William Hill to follow McClaren, whose departure was confirmed following an emergency meeting of the Football Association board in central London today.

The Portuguese boss, affectionately known as 'the Special One' during his time at Chelsea, leads the field of contenders - with Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill (5-1) second favourite and Luiz Felipe Scolari third at 7-1.

Odds: Jose Mourinho 4-1; Martin O'Neill 5-1; Luiz Felipe Scolari 7-1; Guus Hiddink 8-1; Fabio Capello 10-1; Stuart Pearce 12-1; Alan Shearer 12-1; Sam Allardyce 16-1; Marcello Lippi 16-1; Harry Redknapp 16-1; Alan Curbishley 16-1.

Meanwhile England's stand-in captain Steven Gerrard has admitted it will take "a long time to recover" from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals. And he insisted the players have to take responsibility and should make no excuses for their exit following last night's the 3-2 defeat by Croatia.

Gerrard said: "We've got to take the criticism, get on with it and try to bounce back but it's going to hurt for a long time.

"It will take a long time to recover from this. There's a lot more football to play in the future and we've got to try and bounce back and try to get it out of the system.

"This is my biggest disappointment in international football and it would be wrong to make excuses. That's the easy way out. As players we've got to take responsibility."


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