SEAN DYCHE would be happy to see Arsene Wenger handed the England job as a present on his 20th anniversary.
Wenger, who arrives at Turf Moor today at the start of his third decade in charge of Arsenal, suggested this week he could be interested in becoming the Three Lions boss “one day”.
Dyche backs the interim appointment of Gareth Southgate following Sam Allardyce’s departure this week.
But he would have no problem if the Frenchman took over should he decide not to renew the Emirates contract that is due to expire next summer.
The Clarets boss said: “I wouldn’t object to it and you want to see the country thrive through its football, whoever is the manager — that’s the key thing. The immediate decision on Gareth is a good one.
“He must have been talking to these guys, learning from them, picking up bits and bobs. And he’s been in the FA so it seems a good decision. But I don’t know the longer plan and it will be interesting to see.
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“Just because the questions are constant now over English football, purely from the English side of it and the amount of English players playing, ideally you would want someone at the helm who is English.
“But I’ve nothing against anyone being England manager and if they are foreign, that’s the way it is. We’ve already had that, don’t forget. And the debate was more relevant the last time, before Sven-Goran Eriksson, whereas now I think it’s become different in football.”
Wenger was the first manager to field a complete all-foreign squad in the 5-1 defeat of Crystal Palace 11 years ago, but Dyche sees him as anything but anti-English.
The Burnley manager, 45, who is set to name an unchanged side to face the Gunners, added: “When he was playing foreign players all the time, he got questioned. What I’m saying is he was probably thinking ‘I just think these are really good players’.
“Now, he’s got English players in there and he has just gone ‘these happen to be the best players’ and whether they are English or not is irrelevant. He’s just gone ‘these are the best players’ and that’s what I’m interested in working with.”
Dyche believes Wenger, 66, who has won the Premier League three times, would be a success with the Three Lions.
He said: “His record suggests he would. With his knowledge of dealing with different players from all different parts of the world and the crop of English players, he would have a good balanced view of international football against top football in England.
“So I think that would be interesting and I would be interested to see what Arsene thinks of it. I’d be intrigued to know if he would take it.”
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