WE NEED DAVID DEIN TO HELP BECKS LAND 2018 WORLD CUP

JUST over a month ago, this column argued David Beckham should act as the face of the 2018 World Cup bid.

Since then, Becks has been recruited as a high-profile ambassador. Good.

But I am not sure his presence as part of the FA delegation that flies to Cape Town this week will be of any use unless the men in suits sort out the mess they have created. And fast.

There is still 12 months of scheming to go but I am told that if there is not a major overhaul of the bid by the turn of the year, Russia and Spain will have a clear run to battle it out.

Crucial to a sea change is someone telling Lord Triesman to take the silver bullet.

If Triesman wants to be regarded as a decent chairman of the FA he must sack himself as supremo of the World Cup bid.

From the outset there was always going to be a conflict of interest in Triesman holding both posts. Now it is painfully obvious. And ruinous.

Historically, the FA has never been the most popular organisation overseas, given some of the colonial attitude which still prevails.

When it comes to the jungle of global football politics, Triesman and Co - Geoff Thompson excepted - are all lightweights.

I passionately want England to win this bid but it's not going to happen when those charged with winning it have created what amounts to a Government-style quango and jobs for the boys.

NEEDED - David Dein

Premier League chairman Dave Richards may not be everyone's cup of tea but he knows the geography of all this stuff, which is why he quit from the bid in disgust last week seeing Triesman's priority in clinging on to power rather than win the bid.

So if Triesman is not the man to lead the bid, who is?

For me, the obvious choice is ex-Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein. He's not universally liked in the game. As someone once said, you can smell the after shave even when you speak to him on the phone. But if you don't have enemies you haven't done a job.

Unlike Triesman, Dein is a football man who is also well versed in the dark arts of political persuasion. At the moment Dein is sort of involved. Not good enough. He should be at head and heart of the of the whole thing.

Hopefully Triesman will realise that, sometimes, turkeys have to vote for Christmas.

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