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"NO BETTER CANDIDATE." SAYS SK
ALAIN BORL OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED AS ENGLAND MANAGER

England have taken the most surprising step yet, by announcing Alain Borl of Wimbledon as the country's new manager, making him the first foreigner in history to manage the national side.

Borl, a Belgium national by birth, stunned the country by accepting the proposition laid upon him by Soccer All Stars Executive Producer ScreamKing, who had been negotiating his arrival as early as the beginning of last week after the shock sacking of Kevin Keegan.

It's widely believed that Borl had already accepted the vacant managerial position before Kevin Keegan's sacking was made official and that he'd already decided on the choice of his 22 players before he was officially announced as the new England manager and had a major say in the venue and opponents they faced this Wednesday.

It's known that the SAS Executive Board originally intended to have the match played at the Millennium Stadium, after the international fixture was brought about at short notice, however Borl, who wants a grand entrance to the international scene is thought to have insisted on the National Stadium.

With several opponents lined up, including: Wales, Greece, Cyprus, Honduras and Belgium, Borl opted for his home country as the one to get his career off the track. In what will be a very tough opening tie, England will take on Belgium for the second time since SAS begun.

The now former Wimbledon manager, who was thought to have signed a new four-season contract at The New Plough Stadium towards the end of last season, didn't come at a cheap price, with the Executive Board having to fork out £700,000 in compensation to Wimbledon club owner Sam Hamman. The Dons Chairman, who wanted his manager to stay but did not stand in the way of his decision, will be at least pleased to receive some type of income.

Borl has produced nothing short of miracles since his time as a manager at the club. Apart from his brief spell at Leeds United Football Club, his ability to transform one of the poorest teams, in terms of performance in the country, into one of the most feared and arguably the most on form this season. His transfer wisdom, described as the best by the majority in the SAS community will be sorely missed.

Early reports suggest Hamman is after Charlton Athletic's Top Gun, and would be prepared to fork out the compensation fee on The Addicks boss. For now though, England's future suddenly has an array of bright lights, and will be strengthed if they can manage a good performance this Wednesday against Belgium.

For the first time ever though, Borl has stamped his authority down by demanding more flexibility. Not only did he persuade the Board to increase his pool of player selection from 18 to 22, he also managed them to grant him access to bring players in to train with the first team.

ScreamKing, Executive Producer of Soccer All Stars and the man who spearheaded the search for a new national manager said: "We regard Alain Borl as a manager with not only enormous ability, but huge potential to. We feel that despite his ethnic background, he is the right man for the position, and we believe that within a weeks time, the public will definitely be agreeing. There simply is no better candidate out there."

The only noticeable stipulation that the SAS Executive Board managed to impose on Borl was their demand to hand the talented manager a pay-on-success rating. If he has the side performing well, and winning, he'll be handed bonuses. This performance based payment method will mean Borl will have to keep on his toes, in order to be paid in full.

It also suggests that the former Wimbledon and Leeds United manager is not here for the ride, and genuinely believes he is the man to take the country in the right direction.

Many fans will still be left wondering why Kevin Keegan wasn't given the opportunity and backing of 22 players instead of 18, which the former England manager described as "seriously restricting" his options when playing against other countries. ScreamKing and the remainder of the Board though, have thought of his reign to be stale, and despite the Board reducing it's members by one third, it gave them the power to oust the England manager out of his job.

The full squad picked by the new manager Alain Borl was also revealed late last night:

Richard Wright (West Ham United)
Paul Robinson (Derby County)
Nigel Martyn (Wimbledon)

Luke Young (Derby County)
Richard Rufus (Charlton Athletic)
Gareth Barry (Tottenham Hotspur)
Tony Adams (Arsenal)
Gareth Southgate (Southampton)
Jon Woodgate (West Ham United)

Kieron Dyer (Wimbledon)
Craig Hignett (Charlton Athletic)
Joe Cole (Liverpool)
Darren Anderton (Wimbledon)
David Beckham (Tottenham Hotspur)
Steven Gerrard (Arsenal)
Stephen Hughes (Tottenham Hotspur)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United)

Les Ferdinand (Ipswich Town)
Kevin Phillips (Newcastle United)
Andy Cole (Wimbledon)
Michael Owen (Tottenham Hotspur)
Alan Shearer (Southampton)

Players invited to train with the squad include: Michael Carrick, Malcolm Christie, Wayne Bridges, Paul Konchesky and Andrew Campbell.

The exclusion of the likes of David Seaman & Paul Gascoigne has sparked early rumours that these players careers at international level are over.

Tottenham Hotspur seemed to have suffered for Brian Thompson's decision to pull his players out of the squad, with the likes of Emile Heskey, Frank Lampard & Jason Wilcox are being left out. Alan Thompson, another capped player also failed to make the team, despite switching to Coventry City just weeks ago.

It's rumoured that Borl has already spoken to Thompson over his past decision to pull players out of the national side, and is concerned that some high profile players, will see their international careers cut short by such decisions. However, Gareth Barry looks set to win his first cap, making another Spurs player an England international. It's unsure whether the pairs rocky professional relationship of the past will have any bearing on future selections, on early evidence though - the answer appears to be no.

Meanwhile Charlton continued their success by seeing Craig Hignett promoted to the full squad after some splendid displays this season, including a fine performance against Middlesbrough in the Cup where he scored a hat-trick. The attacking midfield man has seen his value rise from the £1m Charlton paid for him last season, to at least five times that figure.

Borl has also shown that he is not afraid to bring in the older players, with Ipswich Town's in form Les Ferdinand getting the nod over the likes of Francis Jeffers and Chris Sutton. Ferdinand's blistering start to the season has seen a flurry of goals, and even though his inclusion has come as a surprise by many, it's been said that it has been deserved.

Meanwhile Charlton manager Top Gun has already been thrown into the firing line for the now vacant Wimbledon job. The Charlton manager was recently rumoured to suggest that The Dons position would be one of the only ones he would consider leaving his current club for. Only time will tell if that was misinterpreted or not.

Kevin Keegan, another candidate for the position, had insisted he's not interested in returning to the game just yet, also stating that he is not interested in any support roles at clubs, after Middlesbrough were reportedly interested in his services.