Right man, shame about the nationality. Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, has welcomed the arrival of Fabio Capello as the England head coach, but raised fears that never again will English managers land the country’s top jobs.

Amid the frenzied speculation of the past month about the identity of the successor to Steve McClaren, Coppell had often joked that the media kept spelling his name wrong. “It’s Coppell-o,” he said. “Not Capell-o.”

However, with the appointment of the experienced Italian imminent, he lost his sense of humour. Glancing at the bigger picture, he did not like what he saw. “To be honest, I’m sad,” Coppell said. “I’m a proud English manager and I would have loved an Englishman to have been in charge.

“You look at Capello’s CV and I must admit that it is enticing. He is everything that you would want an England manager to be but, as an Englishman, how would you like an Italian coming to take your job?

“You look at the list of contenders - and what he has done ticks all the boxes – but I just wish he was English.”

Coppell had been mentioned among the possible candidates for the post but was quick to rule himself out of the running. He agreed an extended two-year contract at the Madejski Stadium towards the end of last season – he usually signs only one-year deals – and maintained that he had a job to finish at the Berkshire club.

Although the progress of Reading has been impressive under the former England winger, he does not view it as sufficient to earn himself an upgrade, whether it be to a leading club or international team. “We have created a situation where it is very hard for an English manager to get to the top of the tree,” he said.

“Certainly, none of the elite half of the [Barclays Premier League] table are going to appoint an English manager. I don’t think I will ever get an elite job. The big teams will now always go for continental managers with European experience.”

English managers could successfully learn their trade abroad, like Terry Venables did with Barcelona in the 1980s, but Coppell does not expect that to happen either. “I don’t know how he did it, but it was magnificent,” Coppell said. “But, now, English coaches are not coveted. There is no way an English manager would get a top job in Italy, absolutely no way whatsoever.”

Neither did Coppell see any difference in the appointment of Alex McLeish, the former Scotland manager, who has taken over at Birmingham City. “It is the English Premier League so, for me, it is just the same,” Coppell said.

“I know that the connections with Scotland go back many years, but things change.”

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