It's great news for England, as he's a proven coach who will get the England team playing the way they need to to succeed in the International arena, and help the likes of Peter Taylor develop to the point where there are Englishmen who are qualified to take over (and who fulfil the FA's other criterion: not being Terry Venables).

But it could be a nightmare for Arsenal. Already Arsène Wenger is being talked about as one of the favourites to take over at Lazio (see BBC Sport).

And of course, given Wenger's comments on International football vs club football, the Lazio job is likely to be more attractive to him than the England job.

Fortunately, Lazio will be needing someone from next summer, and Wenger is committed to Arsenal for another year beyond that. And maybe by the end of those 2 years Arsenal will have eclipsed Lazio as a European force anyway.

We're still optimistic that Le Boss will be persuaded to sign an extension to his Highbury contract. He's said that he's in no hurry to do so, but that needn't be taken as a negative sign. As with so many news stories at the moment (eg the Jerzy Dudek non-transfer), it seems unlikely that Wenger is going to do much until the future of the transfer system is decided. And at the end of the day, what could be better than coaching Arsenal, and taking them into a new era in a new stadium?

And another comforting thought: it seems unlikely that "future Arsenal captain" Patrick Vieira would be keen to follow his mentor to Lazio!