YOU can hear the old pros and a few out-of-work managers tut-tutting over their cornflakes, can't you?

"Clive Woodward? Who's he, anyway? Some fella who's made a bit of a name for himself in rugby union.

We're not having him switching over to our game. What qualifications has he got to run a football club?"

The answer is easy. If it's soccer coaching certificates you're referring to, Sir Clive Woodward does not have any.

But since when did a piece of paper signed by some nonentity at UEFA qualify anyone to run a football club?

Bertie Mee was the highly-successful manager of Arsenal during the sixties and seventies. He had a certificate, all right. A certificate of physiotherapy. Because that was what Bertie was, the Gunners' physio at Highbury before he was up-graded to manager.

Sir Matt Busby never had a coaching certificate.

Neither did Joe Mercer or Bill Shankly. And they seemed to muddle through without a framed diploma on the wall in their managerial careers at Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool, didn't they?

So whether Clive Woodward is technically qualified to take charge of a professional football club is an irrelevance.

The only question which needs answering is whether the retired England Rugby Union coach and World Cup winner has the ability and the know-how to carve out an equally successful career in professional football.

Manager

And from everything I've heard or read about the man, this country's professional soccer industry should welcome Woodward into their midst with open arms.

What Woodward has proved beyond any argument during his time as England's rugby coach is that he's a manager of men.

The shape of the ball makes no difference. Woodward is a genius at moulding a group of individuals into a super-efficient team unit.

And any manager or coach in soccer who can persuade a bunch of players to work unselflessly for each other week in week out is onto a sure-fire winner. Woodward's meticulous attention to detail is legendary throughout the rugby union world.

The best hotels for his players. Individual diets to suit individual players. Specialised coaches for various positions. Freshly washed and ironed kit for every training session.

Minor details, perhaps. But a player - in any sport - doesn't half feel important when he's treated like that.

Did you know that in every England match while he was in charge, Woodward had every one of his players filmed by TV cameras in the stand?

Every move, every pass, every mistake was recorded. At a later date, the performance of every single player would be watched and reviewed in the presence of that player.

What a brilliant way for a man to improve his game. How come a soccer coach has never thought of using a similar system for keeping his players permanently on their toes?

Woodward, for all I know, may never fully come to terms with the intricate tactics and formations which are part and parcel of professional football these days.

He doesn't have to come to terms with them. There are enough coaches with UEFA certificates to handle that side of the job.

Woodward gets the best out of players. And players are players whatever ball they are using.

Be it at Southampton or some other club, professional football should open it's doors and put down the welcome mat for Sir Clive Woodward.

He's a MAN-ager of the highest order. And English soccer can never have too many of those.