FA postpones track for new arch senior manager Football

Matt Hughes, Deputy Football Correspondent & , : {}

The FA will delay appointing a permanent chief executive until Englands bid to host the 2018 World Cup is voted on in December.

England is the favourite to be awarded the tournament by Fifas executive committee, but the FA is anxious to avoid diverting time and energy from the bid to search for a new leader after Ian Watmores resignation on Monday.

The decision to postpone the hunt for Watmores successor will lead to fears that the organisation could be rudderless during one of the most important periods in its history, although the FA board acted swiftly yesterday by appointing Alex Horne as acting chief executive. The FAs chief operating officer has held his post since before Watmores arrival as a replacement for Brian Barwick last year.

Alex has taken over and the new arrangements are in place, Lord Triesman, the FAs independent chairman, said. Theres no desire to spend a huge amount of time searching, but we will want to replace the CEO.

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I want to make sure that when the board is slightly reconfigured, that it has the chief executive that it wants. It would be very discourteous for the new board not to have that opportunity. Its not a question of delaying, just working to a timetable that gets the right result.

Triesman paid tribute to Watmore, whose biggest achievement during his nine-month tenure was to secure the future of the National Football Centre in Burton upon Trent, although the reasons behind his abrupt departure remain a bit of a mystery at the FA. Some FA insiders have privately accused Watmore of impatience in attempting to drive through radical reforms to the sports governance, while others have questioned his stomach for the battle for power with the Premier League.

Ian feels he was unable to make the progress he would like as quickly as he would have liked to make it, Triesman said. But I feel Ian is the best person to express his reasons for leaving.

Hes driven through and had the key role in the National Football Centre. He has big accomplishments to his name and in due time he would have had many more.

In a statement the FA denied that the Premier League had effectively blocked Watmores proposals for reform. The board strongly believe that the FA and all of English footballs stakeholders are strong and capable enough of changing and developing the game under their own authority, it read.

The board will always try to act in ways that are right for the game and are clear that the professional game has not blocked proposals for change. Additionally, the board does not accept that Ians departure is down to any one individual or any personality clash with Ian.