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And while we’re at it, here’s another one… I bet few of you narrowed the number down to the same candidates as I did.

If the odds are right, finding Gareth Southgate’s replacement is a toss-up between Eddie Howe and Graham Potter.

Well, in my book it’s also a direct confrontation. But I’m even more convinced that the men I see as obvious favorites will be lucky to get an interview.

I doubt many will agree with me when I say the FA should look no further than Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard for the Three Lions’ next manager.

Any one of them could do the job upside down, but none of them are likely to get so much as a phone call.

You see, many people will insist that there is no reason for them to do so, because they have already considered both to be failures.

Forgetting that Frank reached the FA Cup final and finished fourth in his first spell at Chelsea.

Or the fact that Everton were in such a mess that he never prayed when he went there.

There’s every chance they’ll ignore Stevie’s time at Rangers despite their first title win in a decade – unbeaten too – and say he was a failure at Aston Villa.

But you show me a manager who hasn’t fallen on hard times at some point. Potter certainly did that at Chelsea – he lasted just 31 games and lost 11 of them.

So did Unai Emery, the man who replaced Stevie as Villa manager when he was Arsenal manager. It happens to everyone out there.

So what’s the difference between Potter and Frank?

Why is one of them an obvious candidate for England and the other not even worth mentioning?

Nothing against Eddie or Graham, by the way. Eddie is doing well in Newcastle without breaking anything.

And Potter did a good job at Brighton before Chelsea, but he had good recruitment and worked with good players.

See some of the names he had and where they ended up.

Alexis Mac Allister won the World Cup and went to Liverpool. Leandro Trossard is at Arsenal, Marc Cucurella and Moises Caicedo went to Chelsea, Yves Bissouma is at Tottenham.

There’s no doubt that Potter or Howe would be a safe pair of hands. A firm Eddie. Just like Gareth was eight years ago – which is why they will probably have a chance.

But if the FA wants someone with knowledge of football – also at an international level – and who knows the game inside out at that level, both Frank and Stevie have them standing.

Gamers would love it too. They would be desperate to play for them.

They would have nothing but respect whether it was Lampard or Gerrard as boss.

So are they both on the scrapheap forever because they had a failure at some point? There will be no more managers soon if that’s all it takes.

And here’s another thing too. While a thick skin is required to be a club manager, it is not a patch on what is required at international level.

This goes for players – certainly the more experienced ones – too. And Stevie and Frank could tell you all about it better than anyone.

Some of the things Frank had to endure at that time were horrible, horrible.

The same happened with Gerro, especially when he was captain.

But they both got up and got through it. And that’s the kind of character you want and need as an England manager.

It’s not about being a fantastic coach. When will you actually get the chance to prove it with England? You don’t.

You’re not there every day making shapes, shadow plays and things like that. For one thing, you tend to pick your team at the last minute because you don’t want it to get out!

It’s about managing, not coaching, and there is a difference. It’s about choosing the best players in the right positions.

It’s about attacking and being positive – and in my book, nothing would be more positive than calling Stevie or Frank.

But I would be very surprised if someone from the FA picked up the phone and dialed their numbers.