It is fair to say the past week has raised more questions than provided answers as to who the next permanent England manager will be.

Lee Carsley‘s position as favourite has evaporated in a number of days, and now the plot has further thickened thanks to a report from The Times that Pep Guardiola was contacted by the Football Association.

The field to replace Southgate is a very interesting oneAFP

As things stand Manchester City boss Guardiola will be a free agent in the summer and with seven Premier League titles in his nine years in England it’s an appointment that will have fans licking their lips.

The FA are now 90 days into their search for Gareth Southgate’s successor, but still do not appear to be any closer to a decision.

So talkSPORT thought we would lend a hand by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the leading contenders.

LEE CARSLEY

The former Everton midfielder looked to be in the box seat after winning his first two games as interim-boss against the Republic of Ireland and Finland last month with the minimum of fuss.

However, serious doubts have been raised after his decision not to play a recognised striker in Thursday’s 2-1 defeat at home to Greece backfired spectacularly. He’s also made comments himself that suggest he may not even want the job anyway.

Carsley has gone from favourite to outsider in the space of a weekGETTY

STRENGTHS: Carsley knows what it takes to successfully navigate a tournament having guided England’s under-21s to European championship glory last year.

He also has an excellent working relationship with the likes of Cole Palmer, Angel Gomes, Rico Lewis and Anthony Gordon from his time in charge of the Young Lions and had not been afraid to blood youngsters during his four games at the helm.

He would be the cheapest option available to the FA with no compensation payment required and modest salary demands compared to more experienced candidates

WEAKNESSES: Carsley does not fit the FA’s own criteria when they advertised for Southgate’s replacement of having a proven track record in the Premier League or leading international competition.

He has also been found wanting in the media spotlight, sending out mixed messages about whether or not he actually wants the job full-time and naively admitting in the aftermath of the Greece debacle that the team had only practised with a false nine ‘for 20 minutes’ in training.

He has also fallen into the Southgate trap of playing star names out of position to shoehorn them into the team.

EDDIE HOWE

Howe is one of only three English managers currently plying their trade in the Premier League alongside Sean Dyche, who is battling to save his job at Everton, and Gary O’Neil, who has had a torrid start to the season at Wolves.

If the FA are determined to go homegrown then the Newcastle chief would be their no.1 choice.

Howe’s achievements in football have been extraordinaryGetty

STRENGTHS: Workaholic Howe is tactically very astute and adaptable and has the ability to strike the right balance of when to set his side up to play entertaining, front-foot football and when to adopt a more defensive approach in order to negate a superior opponents’ strengths.

He’s also much more ruthless than his friendly persona portrays, just ask Ryan Fraser, who was made to train with Newcastle’s under-21s after Howe suspected he was trying to leave the club.

While his trophy cabinet is empty, leading Newcastle from relegation candidates to the Champions League in his first full season in charge and Bournemouth from League Two to the top-flight and keeping them there for five years are akin to winning major silverware.

While dealing with the press has not always come naturally, he has developed a Southgate-style statesman-like approach to media duties.

WEAKNESSES: Getting Howe out of Newcastle would be an expensive operation as he has a release clause of around £5m in his contract.

He is also likely to demand a bigger pay packet than Southgate, but that is not thought to be as big a stumbling block as he has openly admitted he wants to one day manage England.

One of his biggest strengths as a coach is working to improve players day-in day-out on the training ground, which you cannot do at international level.

Howe is also famous for liking to go about his business quietly and without courting too much attention, which is almost impossible for the England manager.

THOMAS TUCHEL

Tuchel was slashed into odds-on favourite with some bookmakers over the weekend after a report in Germany claimed he was in advanced negotiations with the FA.

While this has been played down and there is a strong suspicion the story was planted to smoke out Manchester United, the former Chelsea boss would be someone of interest if they decide to appoint a foreign England manager for only the third time in history.

Tuchel is a tactical genius and a proven winnerGetty

STRENGTHS: Of all the out-of-work coaches England are considering, Tuchel has comfortably the best CV, having won the Champions League at Chelsea, the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich and Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain.

That trophy list alone would earn him instant respect of any dressing room.

Man-management is an area where Tuchel excels, having built up an excellent relationship with superstar names such as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, while his training sessions are renowned for being innovative and engaging.

Chelsea’s Champions League final defeat of Manchester City in Porto was an example of his tactical brilliance.

WEAKNESSES: Comes with more baggage than an airport carousel and never lasts in any job more than a couple of years as has a tendency to fall out with his paymasters.

There are some England fans who would have an issue with a German being in charge. He may be a manager who would struggle to get his methods across without being on the training pitch every day.

PEP GUARDIOLA

Guardiola is out of contract at Manchester City this summer and there is a growing expectation he will not sign an extension, especially in the wake of the announcement trusted boardroom ally Txiki Begiristain is stepping down at the end of the season.

Guardiola has always wanted to manage a national team and has left the door open by admitting ‘anything can happen’ when quizzed on the possibility of taking the England job.

Who would say no to arguably the greatest coach of all time?Getty

STRENGTHS: This is an almost endless list as Guardiola is regarded by many as the greatest manager in the history of the beautiful game.

He is the coach that all others look up to and try to emulate as is illustrated by the current trend of teams at all levels wanting to play out from the back.

His abilities as a motivator are almost unrivalled, with City’s Premier League title triumph last season on the back of winning the treble the previous season arguably his greatest achievement.

While there are no guaranteed certainties in sport, he would be as close a sure thing at ending England’s 58-year trophy drought.

WEAKNESSES: The FA cannot pay anywhere near the £20m-a-year wages Guardiola earns at City so he would have to take a huge pay cut.

He is also contracted to the champions until after next summer’s Club World Cup in the USA so would miss the first two rounds of World Cup qualifying games.

Like Howe, Guardiola thrives on the day-to-day interaction with players, which does not translate to this job.

GRAHAM POTTER

Potter has been out of work since his ill-fated stint at Chelsea came to an end in April 2023.

Before the Stamford Bridge debacle, his stock was very high after working wonders at Brighton and Swansea and he has turned down numerous opportunities to get back to the dugout including with Leicester this summer.

Potter is ready to go, but his unsuccessful Chelsea stint hasn’t helpedGetty

STRENGTHS: Potter landed the Chelsea job thanks to his astute tactical brain and attacking brand of possession-based football.

He also has a proven track record of developing and improving young players and tactical flexibility, regularly swapping formations from one game to the next to keep the opposition on their toes.

I once joked on air that a Graham Potter teamsheet is “like a box of chocolates because you never know what you are going to get.”

WEAKNESSES: Even with the infamous glow-up and TV roadshow to put himself in the shop window, England fans are not excited by the prospect of Potter, largely due to how badly it went for him at Chelsea.

This has left major doubts about whether he has the personality or aura for such a massive job or broad enough shoulders to handle the scrutiny that comes with it.

At Chelsea and even when it was going well at Brighton, Potter’s team often struggled to score goals, which is hardly ideal given England’s star striker Harry Kane already looks in decline and will be 32 by the time the 2026 World Cup comes around.

VERDICT: Guardiola would be the dream ticket, but that feels like a fantasy as opposed to reality.

Tuchel has the best track record of the others, but I still suspect he would rather manage United or another big club team than England.

Having invested heavily in St Georges Park and providing a pathway for British coaches, Howe seems the obvious man for the job.