FA finding Keegan hard to get

The search for a new England manager was still not over last night even after a meeting finally took place between Kevin Keegan and Football Association powerbrokers.

But the fact that further talks are planned with Keegan over the next 48 hours would seem to indicate the Fulham boss has not rejected the advances from the FA outright.

Official permission to approach Keegan, who is widely believed to be the number one choice for the post, was given by Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed last Friday.

Noel White, the head of the FA's international committee, and David Davies, the FA's interim executive director, met Keegan in the northeast of England, where he was spending time with his family after Fulham's FA Cup defeat at Manchester United on Sunday.

The three men spent two hours locked in discussions and although no immediate resolution was forthcoming, the fact that further talks are likely to be by telephone rather than in person indicate progress was made.

FA spokesman Steve Double said in a statement: "Noel White and David Davies have had an amicable meeting with Kevin Keegan today and they will be speaking again within the next 48 hours.

"The FA are still considering all options."

Although admitting a "pull" towards any call from his country, Keegan has adamantly insisted that he will not leave Fulham, where he still has 18 months remaining on his contract.

The most likely compromise solution would seem to be asking Keegan to combine both jobs, staying at Fulham but leading England into their Euro 2000 qualifiers against Poland on March 27th, and against Sweden and Bulgaria in early June.

Talks would take place between the FA, English Football League and Walsall, who are due to play Fulham in a crunch promotion match on March 27th, over a possible postponement of that fixture. Walsall have declared that they are unwilling to lose out financially due to a postponement but the decision may be made for them if Fulham stars Chris Coleman, Kit Symons and Maik Taylor are called up by Wales that week.

All along, the FA have been keen to stress that they continue to pursue "other options", presumably in case Keegan turns his country down.

However, former Blackburn boss Roy Hodgson, who is one of the few likely candidates who is acceptable to the FA - unlike Terry Venables - and also immediately available, confirmed yesterday that the FA had not yet made contact with him.

Further talks, probably by telephone, are therefore likely to take place with Keegan either today or tomorrow while a compensation package may also have to be worked out with Fulham.