Former Bradford City boss Chris Kamara believes Howard Wilkinson should lead England in their Euro 2000 qualifying campaign if he inspires victory over France in next week's friendly at Wembley.

The 55-year-old yesterday took charge of the England side on a caretaker basis following the sacking of Glenn Hoddle for his weekend comments about reincarnation and the disabled.

Kamara was part of Wilkinson's Leeds side which won the Second Division championship in 1990 before establishing themselves as a force in the English game.

And he believes the FA have chosen the perfect man to lead England out of crisis.

He said: "I felt England should have turned to Howard after he had transformed Leeds and led them to the title in 1992.

"I was fortunate to be a senior player at Leeds when the club got back in the then First Division and my overriding feeling now is that I wished I had played for Howard earlier in my career.

"He was a great manager to play for and has a deep knowledge of football. I don't think the appointment is short-term. A lot depends on whether he gets a good result against France. Howard is a disciplinarian and some players will enjoy playing for him and others won't.

"He has two personas. One for the Press and another for the staff and players at his club.

"What should not happen now is the FA making a rash appointment. Howard has had a good grounding and has served his apprenticeship as technical director."

Meanwhile, City chairman Geoffrey Richmond believes the sacking of Hoddle was the only sensible outcome. after the storm surrounding his comments in The Times.

He was reported to have said: "You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and half-decent brains. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime. I have nothing to hide about that. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap."

Richmond said: "His position had become totally untenable. It wasn't the first time he had said it either as it has emerged that he told Radio 5 and a sportsman's dinner in Swindon the same thing.

"The man is an idiot. The best he could come up with was that his comments had been taken out of context. I personally believe he should have gone for football reasons after the World Cup. Anyone who can say that Michael Owen is not a natural born goalscorer, as Hoddle did, should not be England manager."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.