Andriy Shevchenkoach of Ukraine

If Alan Shearer fancies the job of England manager he may do well to look at Ukraine and the fact that they have just appointed the greatest ever player Andriy Shevchenko as the man to take charge of the side for the countries World Cup 2018 Qualifying Campaign.

The A.C. Milan legend and Chelsea flop takes the reigns after Mykhaylo Fomenko quit after their dismal Euro 2016 performance in which they were the first side to be knocked out of the tournament and they came home without a solitary point to his name.

Shevchenko may not have any managerial experience but he was Fomenko’s assistant during the tournament so it’s not a complete leftfield appointment by the Football Federation of Ukraine. Shevchenko has been handed a 2 year contract with the option of a further 2 year extension.

The former Dynamo Kiev star has gone for an international flavour in terms of his backroom staff  as former Italy defender Mauro Tassotti, who was assistant coach when Shevchenko was at Milan, will join his coaching staff, as will former Dynamo coach Raul Riancho.

Ukraine’s World Cup 2018 qualification campaign begins with a home match against Iceland in September. They are both in Group I along with Croatia, Turkey, Finland and Kosovo. A group that on paper looks incredibly tough considering that 4 of the 6 teams in the group were at Euro 2016 last month.

If the Ukraine F.A. are willing to give a job of this stature to someone with no managerial experience then it does begin to beg the question that why couldn’t the English F.A do the same. I’m not exactly advocating for Alan Shearer to be the next England boss but it does signify that do we really require such a high profile manager to take over from Roy Hodgson?

I guess Ukraine will look to a paucity of candidates to join from in comparison to England and the fact that they have simply appointed from within so for that reason I guess we will have to continue to make do with Shearer’s weekly analysis on the Match Of The Day next season.