Chelsea: Former Manager 'Emerges As England Candidate'

Guus Hiddink, the former Chelsea manager, has emerged as a surprise candidate for the vacant England job.

England has been without a manager since the end of an ignominious UEFA Euro 2016 campaign, which ended with a 2-1 defeat to Iceland in Nice a week ago.

Roy Hodgson, the previous incumbent, resigned immediately in the wake of that loss, his third major tournament failure in three attempts.

Gareth Southgate, the England Under-21s manager, had been the English Football Association's (FA) preferred candidate to take over from Hodgson in the short term.

But with Southgate desirous of continuing his work with the junior team, and Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, growing less likely by the day, the FA's prospects are limited.

Hiddink, who took over the Chelsea job last season following Jose Mourinho's departure in December 2015 before leaving at the season's end, has extensive experience managing at international level, with two spells in charge of the Netherlands, and one in charge of Russia. He has also managed South Korea, Australia and Turkey.

And The Times reported Monday that he would be interested in taking the role on a short-term basis.

The 69-year-old would be unlikely to last all the way through to the controversial 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, instead guiding England through the qualifying campaign for another controversial World Cup, Russia in 2018.