Warburton in pole position for England job

ENGLAND have lined up Rangers boss Mark Warburton as their top target after Sam Allardyce resigned as Three Lions boss in disgrace.

After holding crunch talks with FA beaks in London amid newspaper allegations of serious misconduct, Allardyce handed his notice into the governing body on Tuesday evening.

That has prompted FA chief Greg Dyke to go all out in an attempt to bring Warburton back down south in a bid to secure England's qualification for the World Cup in Russia.

The FA are said to be very keen on securing the services of a manager that can storm through qualifying and deliver a respectable showing in the World Cup.

The ex-Brentford coach fits the bill given the way Rangers romped home to the Scottish Championship last season and have comfortably adapted to life in the top-flight with the Light Blues sitting in a respectable seventh place in the Premiership table.

The Englishman can also boast experience at tournament football after successfully steering the Ibrox side to an historic Petrofac Cup win, the first in the club's history. Some among the Ibrox club's supporters even claimed after the legendary victory that Warburton was in possession of a magic hat; every other Rangers manager who had tried to get their hands on the trophy was ultimately denied by footballing giants such as Alloa Athletic and Raith Rovers.

However, there are critics in the FA that are worried that Warburton's troubled relationship with England legend Joey Barton may see the midfielder call quits on his illustrious international career.

Despite this, FA chiefs are set to give Greg Dyke the green light to hold a meeting with Warburton tomorrow.

The talks come amid criticism from those close to Allardyce that members of Warburton's entourage tipped the Daily Telegraph off about his transfer dealings with West Ham.

When questioned Warburton declined to comment on the accusations.

However, a source who would only go by the name of Lee, insisted that everything was all above board and that there had been no tip off to the authorities.

If England manage to prise the 54-year-old to Wembley, Rangers chairman Dave King has lined up a host of big names to fill the Ibrox hotseat in a bid to reassure fans that the club are still going for their 55-point Premiership target with Jimmy Calderwood and Jim Jefferies among the bookies favourites.