England could struggle to find a top manager – Dyke

“And what’s more, so much is going to be written about our failure to get to the quarterfinals that nothing I can say would do anything other than fuel the flames possibly”.

“We clearly need an inspirational manager who can harness all of the resources that the English game, the big resources, has got, everything we have now got at St George’s Park, to make us more resilient in tournaments”.

The veteran boss faced questions from the media less than 24 hours after the Three Lions were dumped out of Euro 2016 by Iceland and he announced his resignation.

“I really expected them to beat Iceland, especially after scoring so early”, he said.

FA chief executive Martin Glenn, sitting alongside an emotional Hodgson in Chantilly, even suggested the search could take months – bringing Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger into the equation as he enters the final year of his contract at Emirates Stadium. I have no complaints.

“I’d in no way go back on the exercise that we did and I’m very sorry and surprised the way it’s finished”. Rooney insists he intends to carry on, and Wilkins says he still has a vital role to play for his country. “We go home as losers and we retain that wretched record of losing a tournament in the knockout stages”.

He said: “I met Glenn Hoddle on the plane on the way back, and he said they were scared to death”.

“Of course it’s better if he’s English, but he has to be the right man for the job”, said Rooney. Whether he’s English or not we’ll wait and see. I have no doubt, that as I said in my statement – which I would like to have left at, I’m sure that these players will get better and better.

“On behalf of the players, we completely supported the England manager, but we understand his reasons for stepping down”.

Hodgson added: “Nothing in the first three games gave me any indication we were playing as poorly as we did last night, but we did”. It was obvious that he was only there due to his contractual obligations, and made his irritation abundantly clear.

He said: “People say it is time for Wayne Rooney to hang up his boots, but in my humble opinion he is still the best footballer that we have”.

“In terms of the FA’s commitment, we’ll get a new management team and in the future at every tournament, every game, every half we will punch our weight”.