Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Paul Ince has controversially thrown the name of an interesting candidate to become the next England manager into the ring . . . his own club boss, Glenn Hoddle.

It is almost seven years since Hoddle's reign as national boss ended abruptly following the outcry that accompanied his comments about disabled people.

But the idea that the Football Association might be considering a jobshare arrangement to allow Bolton Wanderers' Sam Allardyce to succeed Sven-Goran Eriksson has left Ince baffled.

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"I read in the paper today that they're looking at the idea of Sam sharing the job," the former England captain said. "Maybe they're having a look at the wrong person.

"No disrespect to Sam Allardyce, but our gaffer knows what it's all about. He's been there and he knows his football.

"It is all right for Sven to make all those misdemeanours and still be in a job, but the point I want to make is that the gaffer did nothing wrong.

"All he did was make a comment and get sacked on the strength of that and, if they are prepared to share the roles between club and country, then the gaffer's the man for me."

Ince, aged 38 but into the 22nd season of a long, illustrious career, was a key performer during Hoddle's twoanda-half years in charge of the national team.

But, before Saturday's England v Argentina friendly in Geneva, Ince cannot help but look back on their infamous encounter in St Etienne at the 1998 World Cup finals.

Ince missed one of the penalties in the eventual shootout, but wonders how things might have worked out if David Beckham had not been sent off and Hoddle's men had won in the Geoffrey Guichard Stadium that night.

"If we'd won, we'd have gone on to win the World Cup," Ince said. "Glenn would probably still be the gaffer. That was a great side with a lot of characters and that's something missing from the England team at the moment."

Ince was speaking yesterday at the official opening, by Wolves owner Sir Jack Hayward, of the club's £3.3million Compton Park training ground.

Sidelined by a thigh problem that has kept him out since mid-August and which is likely to sideline him until Christmas, Ince is frustrated by his inactivity.

"It's been an absolute nightmare," said the midfielder who admits to having briefly considered whether to bring forward his plan to retire at the end of the season. "It can be a bit souldestroying when you're undergoing endless treatment and not being part of things with the lads and it did cross my mind as to whether it's all still worth it.

"But I just thought 'that's no way to finish your career' and that has kept me going.

"Now I'm on the mend and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I've started running and I hope to be back joining in full training in two or three weeks' time."

Ince will shelve those comeback plans on Saturday when he will be just as gripped by England's first meeting with Argentina since the night in June 2002 when Beckham got his revenge in Sapporo.

"I'll be in the boozer watching it with the lads," Ince said. "They say it's a friendly, but no England-Argentina game is ever a friendly.

"It's one of those games when you shouldn't experiment. You should go out there with your strongest side and make a statement against probably the secondbest team in the world.

"I know there's been talk about playing a holding midfielder, but you're still looking at Stevie Gerrard and Frankie Lampard as the two best midfielders in the country and they've got to play. It's just a case of them being disciplined in the way they make their runs forward."