The most talked-about recruitment process in England began in earnest last week as the Football Association (FA) started its search for a new national team manager.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick said he hoped to find a new England manager within the next six months, and had already put forward a new recruitment process to the board.

Barwick did not set a strict deadline for the process, but the way in which the best candidate is chosen and how the recruitment process will work is still under consideration.

Current manager Sven-Göran Eriksson (pictured) will leave his post at the end of the World Cup finals in Germany this summer after a string of damaging headlines and a recent tabloid sting.

The recruitment challenge facing the FA are immense and it will be essential that modern, innovative techniques are used. An FA spokesman confirmed the organisation has used recruitment agencies in the past - hopefully, some of the expertise has rubbed off.