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Roy Hodgson and England: Talks held at Wembley with FA

Roy Hodgson has left Wembley after four-hour talks with the Football Association over the vacant England manager’s job.

The West Brom boss, who was meeting a four-man panel, is expected to be appointed within 48 hours.

The 64-year-old left without making any comment and the FA said there would be no further update until Tuesday.

Hodgson said he would “be delighted” to manage England, in a BBC Sport interview before the FA’s approach.

The FA says Hodgson is the only person they have approached about succeeding Fabio Capello.

Hodgson has extensive international experience, having managed Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Finland, and domestic teams in Sweden, Italy and England.

FA chairman David Bernstein said: “Roy is the only manager we have approached and we remain on course to make an appointment within the timescale we set out.”

The four-man panel which will decide who takes over from Capello are Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne, FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking and managing director of Club England Adrian Bevington.

Bernstein approached West Brom on Saturday and was given permission to speak to Hodgson, who is likely to be appointed on a long-term basis.

It is expected any contract will cover the three tournaments up to and including Euro 2016, at which point he will be two months short of his 69th birthday.

Hodgson’s contract with West Brom ends on 30 June.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp had been heavily linked with the job ever since Capello left the post in February, but the FA has decided to discuss the position with Hodgson.

It is understood the FA’s main concern about Redknapp was whether he shared their vision for the National Football Centre in Burton, designed as a £100m centre of excellence for coaching.

The FA felt Hodgson would be more willing to lead from the front on that issue.

On Friday, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pat Murphy spoke to Hodgson about the England job, and put it to the West Brom manager that the FA was expected to make a move for Capello’s successor this we

“It’s news to me,” Hodgson said. “I shall just watch like everyone else interested in football to see who the next England manager will be.

“I don’t what the plans are of the FA, as I’ve said all along. They’ve got a job to do. I’m sure they have looked into the sort of candidates that they consider potentially right for the job.

“No doubt, if you say next week, we’ll find out which candidate they have plumped for.”

Murphy told Hodgson he “ticked a lot of the boxes”, and the West Brom manager replied: “I don’t know about that. It’s nice of you to say so, but I’m sure there’s lots of other people who tick a lot boxes as well.”

Hodgson, who had a disappointing time at Liverpool last season, has steered West Brom to mid-table in the Premier League.

In total, he has managed 18 teams either at domestic or international level, including two spells as Inter Milan boss.

And Albion chairman Jeremy Peace remains hopeful he will stay on at the Hawthorns.

Peace said: “Roy has done a fantastic job over the past 15 months and the fact the FA wants to discuss the England role with him is testament to that.

Roy is a proud Englishman and we can understand why he wants to speak to the FA about this highly prestigious managerial position.

“However, we have emphasised to Roy how much we would like him to remain as our head coach and continue his major contribution to our project at the Hawthorns as we look to establish ourselves as a Premier League club.

“Everyone here has an excellent working relationship with him and he is immensely popular with our supporters.”

England have two fixtures before their Euro 2012 opener against France on 11 June, with friendlies planned against Norway on 26 May and Belgium on 2 June.

Stuart Pearce – who is in charge of both the England Under-21 squad and the Team GB Olympic set-up – is currently in temporary control of the national side and oversaw a 3-2 friendly defeat by the Netherlands at Wembley last month.

Pearce said he would be prepared to lead the team into Euro 2012 and stated earlier this week that he could name the squad on or around 10 May if no new manager was in place by that date.

West Brom end their Premier League campaign against Arsenal on 13 May.

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