Appointing Redknapp on an initial short term basis will give England their best chance of performing well at the European Championships, as well as allowing both parties the chance to re-evaluate the situation at the tournament’s conclusion.

"He gets on with the job. He's not a minute's problem. He's not Billy Big Time, he's just a great boy, and I think that's what you need at your football club if you are going to do anything. You need them.”

Harry Redknapp on Scott Parker’s suitability for the England captaincy.

"Let's be honest, you would love to have Paul Scholes in the Euros this year. He'd be in your team, he's that good. Whoever's there would love to take him, I'm sure. You'd love him to play. He plays like the Spaniards, like Xavi [Hernández] or [Andrés] Iniesta. He does not give the ball away."

Harry Redknapp on recalling Paul Scholes for the upcoming European Championships.

It should probably be clarified at this point that Harry Redknapp is not in fact the manager of England’s football team. Not yet, anyway.

For a man that has tried vainly to distance himself from the position, good old ‘Arry, certainly has a lot to say about the management of the national team, and for the most part it would seem he’s making all the right noises. Wayne Rooney wants him. Rio Ferdinand wants him. The media wants him. The people want him.  In truth, it’s hard to remember a candidate for the England job that has been so universally accepted by the usually fractured English football community.

Described by Johnny Giles as a manager who is a “good judge of a footballer”, Redknapp is a manager who probably won’t be remembered for his great tactical innovation. At 64 years of age, Redknapp’s rise through the managerial ranks has perhaps been a late one. Achieving respectable results with Bournemouth, who he guided to a Third Tier championship as well as a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, as it is known today, Redknapp would go on to foster some of England’s greatest players at West Ham, where his tenure gave the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole their big break in senior football.

However it is at Tottenham where Redknapp has really made waves in the Premier League. After achieving FA Cup success with a Portsmouth that was tilting dangerously close to the edge of impeding financial doom, Redknapp took on the task of rebuilding Tottenham after Juande Ramos’ nightmare reign that had undone Martin Jol’s work in establishing Tottenham Hotspur as a club capable of challenging the “Big Four”. Redknapp has not only achieved just that, he has surpassed it, and today, Tottenham are a club rightly recognised as title contenders.

Redknapp’s rise has been impressive, and whilst you couldn’t possibly take away from what he has achieved in his managerial career, he’s no Fabio Capello. The man Redknapp is touted to replace boasts a magnificent total of nine top flight league championships as a manager, seven in Italy and two in Spain, and is a European Championship winner, who also boasts five domestic cup wins. For all the criticism he received, Capello comfortably boasts the best win/game ratio in comparison to the five who preceded him, despite managing England through more matches than all bar one of them, losing only six times in 42 games. Replacing Capello, no matter what his critics say, will be no mean feat.

Redknapp is a worthy candidate though, despite his lack of silverware. His rise may have been late, but it has been rapid and it has been spectacular. Tottenham’s Champions League qualification and progression to the quarter finals of the competition was a fantastic story, and their progression after failing to qualify for a second year running has been simply remarkable, and he is not a manager who is afraid of controversy or criticism. Redknapp has gone on record to state that he would not consider managing Tottenham and England at the same time, but has said he will not rule himself out of the job either.

Perhaps then, Redknapp offers the perfect short-term solution.

The wisest course of action for now might be just to offer Redknapp the job on a short term basis, starting at the conclusion of the Premier League season. Redknapp’s familiarity with the Premier League means he will be aware of the qualities and form of England’s best footballers. It would seem he already has the respect of most of the players, given the very public manner in which some have backed him for the job, and that means that his players will play for him.

The suggestion that England is a team that lacks technical quality and imagination is quite frankly an absurd one. England have the players to have a real go at the European title this summer, and Redknapp is one of few managers that has the self-conviction and strength to instil that belief in his men.

The fact is that with so little to work with the players, England only has the one friendly against the Netherlands, which interim manager Stuart Pearce will oversee anyway, any new manager that comes in will not have enough time to make broad changes in terms of tactics and philosophy. What the new manager will need to be capable of doing is getting the absolute best of what he has at his disposal, and be brave in his selections. Redknapp’s strength may not be in his tactical intuitiveness, though he has Tottenham playing some rather fancy stuff right now, but he is probably the best equipped manager to get some sort of result from the European Championships on such short notice.

Appointing Redknapp on an initial short term basis will give England their best chance of performing well at the European Championships, as well as allowing both parties the chance to re-evaluate the situation at the tournament’s conclusion. Tottenham might have something to say about this, as it would mean that they would be uncertain of the future of their manager until rather late in the club’s off-season, but for Harry Redknapp and the FA, it remains the best short term solution.