Alan Shearer says FA must name new England manager now

Former England captain Alan Shearer says the Football Association must appoint its new manager immediately.

England are without a coach following the departure of Fabio Capello on 9 February, with Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp the favourite to take over.

England will hold a training camp before leaving for Euro 2012 on 6 June.

"They need a manager pretty soon - actually now," Shearer told BBC Sport. "The FA should think about England rather than the other football clubs."

Shearer, who won 34 of his 63 caps as skipper and scored 30 goals, is adamant Redknapp is right for the job.

"Just because Harry has had a couple of bad results, it doesn't make him a bad manager," said the 41-year-old former Southampton, Blackburn and Newcastle striker.

"I would absolutely 100% still go for Harry Redknapp and I think everyone will tell you the same story.

"The FA are in a very difficult position because if they go in with an approach then it would upset people.

"But now the time has come and so be it if they upset one or two people."

The FA maintains it will wait until the "back end of the season" to name Capello's successor.

When the Italian resigned, Club England managing director Adrian Bevington said plans for Euro 2012 from an operational point of view were already in place.

"Any manager coming into this role will be able to hit the ground running very, very quickly," he commented.

But Sol Campbell, a former England team-mate of Shearer, believes the longer the governing body leaves it, the more damage will be done to England's hopes in Poland and Ukraine.

The national team open their Group D campaign against France in Donetsk on 11 June, play Sweden in Kiev four days later, and finish the pool against Ukraine in Donetsk on 18 June.

"The FA needs to choose the manager pretty soon," Campbell, who made 73 appearances for his country, told BBC Sport.

"You want a manager who can get in there and feel comfortable with the players. He needs to settle in, find his right staff and get used to the whole situation.

"He doesn't want to come with a month to go before the tournament and rush around - that's not fantastic preparation.

"They have got to make a decision soon, put something on the table and maybe come out and say, 'this is our man, this is what we want'."

Campbell agreed that Redknapp would be the preferred candidate.

"Harry is definitely going to be at the top of the list," added the former Tottenham and Arsenal centre-back.

"But, if he is not prepared to go, there are other managers who can quite easily take on the challenge and go from there."