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Refused permission by Newcastle to have Bobby Robson as a part-time coach, England is forced to look elsewhere for a successor to Kevin Keegan.

Because the criteria laid down by the Football Association's seven-man panel seems to rule out popular choice Terry Venables, the list of credible candidates is getting smaller by the day.

Several newspapers are urging the FA to try and appoint a foreign coach for the first time, such as the respected Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson of Lazio, Arsenal's French manager Arsene Wenger or Marcello Lippi, recently fired by Inter Milan.

But the FA suffered one defeat at home on Saturday.

After 67-year-old Robson, who led England to a World Cup semifinal in 1990, had met Newcastle owner Freddy Shepherd on Saturday, the club issued a statement saying it would not release him from his one-year contract to lead England even on a short-time basis.

"Of course I am deeply disappointed by the decision of the Newcastle board but at the same time I fully understand and respect the reasons," Robson said.

"I am deeply patriotic and would have loved to have helped out England. But it seems the request made to Newcastle was not just for me to take command again in the friendly game against Italy next month. The FA wanted me to guide the ship until next summer."

Robson seemed the ideal candidate to take charge of the team until the FA finds a full time replacement for Keegan, who suddenly quit two weeks ago after England's 1-0 loss at home to Germany in a World Cup qualifying game.

But he is regarded as something of a savior at Newcastle having lifted the team from the relegation zone to mid-standings safety last season and up to third place during the early stages of this term. "It's been a great year in turning things around from the brink of relegation when I arrived," Robson said. "But a club like this needs to go on and achieve success. The chairman believes that to achieve it will demand my 100 percent attention and concentration.

"The board has reached its decision and explained the reasons to me. There is no way I will not accept that decision, despite my own feelings of sadness at not being able to help out my country."

While hoping someone with the experience of Robson might be able to take over short-term, the FA also has to find a long-term solution.

As coaches such as Robson, Graham Taylor, Venables, Glenn Hoddle and Keegan discovered, leading England is one of the toughest jobs around.

The nation believes itself to be one of the powerhouse teams in world soccer yet its record in major international competitions says otherwise.

The 1966 World Cup triumph on home turf is its only success even though English clubs, enriched by stars from other countries, have won nine European Champions Cups including six in a row between 1977-82.

Because Premier League games are screened in many countries world wide, English soccer remains highly regarded. Yet the standard of play by English-born players hasn't matched up to that of the imported stars.

While Keegan won praise as a motivator, he admitted he fell down as a tactician and coaches such as Eriksson, Wenger, Lippi and even former German coach Berti Vogts have been suggested as suitable replacements if the FA decides to look to a foreign coach.

If it decides to stay with a homegrown appointment, candidates include former England captain Bryan Robson, currently in charge at Middlesbrough, Peter Taylor (Leicester), Steve McClaren (No. 2 to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United), Brian Kidd (McClaren's predecessor at Old Trafford), John Gregory (Aston Villa) and Alan Curbishley (Charlton).

Despite being rebuffed by Newcastle, the FA is upbeat about making a decision soon.

"Significant progress has already been made this weekend as we seek a successor to Kevin Keegan," said executive director David Davies. "We expect to make a statement, as scheduled, early [this] week."

Michael Schumacher won a physically demanding race in hot and humid conditions at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday. Mika Hakkinen, having moved forward before the red lights went out, was given a stop and go penalty which effectively ruined his chances of a race win and the team's slim hope of regaining the constructors' title.

David Coulthard, having taken Schumacher at the start, was forced to pit early to have debris removed from his radiator giving the German the lead which he was not to relinquish, but the Scot remained in contention finishing in front of third placed Ferrari driver, Rubens Barrichello.

Hakkinen twice fought his way back through the field to eventually take fourth. Jacques Villeneuve provided thrills in his Honda powered BAR in a mid-race battle for fourth place with Hakkinen, but succumbed to the Finn settling for an eventual fifth place. Eddie Irvine finished the season for Jaguar on a positive note scoring for only the second time this year.

Good spirits seemed to abound amid the space-age setting of the Sepang circuit and there was a distinct lack of tension in the air. The World Championship had been settled earlier in Japan and despite McLaren's intention to retake the constructors' title, it seemed more or less a foregone conclusion that Ferrari would hold on to it and complete the double.

 As the red lights began their sequence, Hakkinen's car bolted forward half a metre but the Finn checked himself in time and the McLaren was stationary before the final light extinguished itself.

But he still got away early, outbraking Schumacher into the first turn. Coulthard staying on the outside got the better traction and he too slipped past the German at the second apex of the corner.

Back in fourth place Rubens Barrichello was slow off the mark and was challenged by both Alex Wurz and Jacques Villeneuve before re-establishing his position behind his team mate.

 A coming together between the slower cars of Pedro Diniz, Nick Heidfeld and Pedro de La Rosa behind the main pack resulted in the safety car being pressed into service for two laps whilst the debris was cleared.

On lap 3 Hakkinen inexplicably began to slow and was passed by both Coulthard and Schumacher. As the two leaders began to make time, Hakkinen was called in to take his penalty putting him effectively last and moving Barrichello, Alex Wurz, Villeneuve and Irvine up a place.

Coulthard was flying, having increased his lead to five seconds, leading to speculation of a light fuel load; but a slip on lap 12 saw him take to the dirt on the side of the track forcing him to pit earlier than expected to have the debris removed from his radiators.

"We didn't intend stopping on lap 18," Coulthard said later. "When I ran off the circuit coming out of turn six it filled the left hand side of the car with grass and the temperature was going up for five laps. It's disappointing as it could have been closer but it was my fault, I should have kept the car on the circuit."

He rejoined the race in 6th, 22 seconds behind Schumacher who had taken over the lead, setting two lap records in short succession.

Pit stops began on lap 20 earlier than expected as the Bridgestone tyres started to degrade prematurely. Hakkinen down in 11th place was making heavy weather of getting through the tail end of the pack but once past the dawdling Giancarlo Fisichella, he began to show his renowned flare for fighting back in the face of adversity.

Coulthard meanwhile, had worked his way back to third by way of his competitors' pit stops leaving Schumacher and Barrichello ahead but still to make their first stops which they did on laps 23 and 25 respectively. The Scot regained his lead for less than a lap as Schumacher pulled out of the pit lane3 seconds ahead. Barrichello's stop was slow by comparison and he joined a place down behind the McLaren.

The luckless Herbert, having reached fourth place, was forced back to 12th after a fuel nozzle jammed during his refuelling stop but far worse was to come for the retiring Brit.

Hakkinen was by this time up into fifth place and battling it out with the BAR Honda of Villeneuve for fourth. The duo drove neck and neck down the long Penang straight, neither giving an inch. The Canadian, taking the left side of the track had the inside line into the final hairpin, but the car slide wide allowing Hakkinen through, to the cheers of the packed grandstand on the finishing straight.

At this point in the race McLaren looked as if they might salvage two podium finishes from the race. Coulthard continued to gain on Schumacher and Hakkinen was closing the gap on third placed Barrichello setting another lap record of 1.38.5 seconds, his tank almost dry and his tyres shot to pieces. He eventually pitted for 9.3 seconds on lap 36 to rejoin in 7th and once again began to chase after the leaders.

With Schumacher's lead reduced to 1.9 seconds, Coulthard made his second stop rejoining ahead of Barrichello but the two times champion who stopped on the following lap with an almost identical stationary time, again rejoined the circuit just ahead of Coulthard, promising a battle royal between the two cars in the final 17 laps.

A slow stop from Barrichello when he could not engage first gear, dropped him back to an uncompetitive third and with Hakkinen driving brilliantly but some 20 seconds adrift of the Brazilian the finishing order was settled.

Jenson Button in his final race for Williams retired on the pit straight with a blown engine on lap 20 and Johnny Herbert's last race in Formula1 ended with a bang when his rear suspension failed six laps from the end sending him with force into the barriers. He was carried from the track by marshals and was diagnosed later to have strained one of his legs.

For the Jordan team the writing was again on the wall for another futile race as Jarno Trulli pitted to replace a nose cone damaged in the first corner melee. Further stops would see the eventual retirement of Heinz Harald Frentzen - his 11th this year- with power steering problems and Trulli ending his weekend second to last.

Ferrari's partying will be short lived as they now go into the serious part of designing and building their new car. Schumacher declared his intention to challenge for more titles in the future.

"We wanted to win the race," Schumacher said later, bright red wig sticking out on either side of his sponsor's cap. "DC pushed from the first lap and we won the constructors championship not by three points but by winning the race."