With Sven under pressure, Andrew Fifield looks at the credentials of a possible successor.

Sven-Goran Eriksson celebrates his fifth anniversary as England manager in a month's time, although the atmosphere in his plush Regent's Park home will be more akin to a wake than a party.

The shock waves caused by England's defeat to Northern Ireland last Wednesday are still reverberating. All concerned, from past players to frustrated fans, have had their say, and the consensus is that Sven's time is up. The only points for conjecture are when the change should be made, and who should replace him. Bolton's Sam Allardyce is the early front-runner, although Alan Curbishley is also jockeying for contention. But tucked in among the chasing pack, one name stands out: Stuart Pearce of Manchester City.

It is a measure of what Pearce has achieved at Eastlands that a man who is still taking his first tentative steps in football management is being considered for the most elevated post in the English game.

When Pearce took over from Kevin Keegan last season, City were a mess. Supporters were disenchanted, debts were spiralling, an ageing squad had lost its motivation under Keegan's lax regime. It seemed a job too far for a rookie. Pearce may have tasted life in the dugout at Nottingham Forest in the late 1990s - with the club en route to the old First Division - but that hardly seemed ideal preparation for City's pressure-cooker.

However, perhaps it was for the best that Pearce was not haunted by ghosts from his managerial past. City are a club in constant need of reassurance. Decades of underachievement have dented their self-esteem and the last thing they need is a manager similarly riddled with self-doubt.

Pearce could never be accused of that. From the moment he assumed control, he has shown purpose and drive that were conspicuous by their absence under Keegan. Training has been intensified, player indiscipline snuffed out, and results have perked up.

On Saturday, Manchester City ambled to Old Trafford in the unusual position of peering down on their local rivals in the league table. Joey Barton's equaliser preserved that peculiar status quo and ensured that Pearce remained unbeaten in 13 games as a Premiership manager.

Barton was a fitting saviour, because no player has better responded to Pearce's prompting than he. Last December, the midfielder was fined six weeks' wages for stubbing out a cigar in the eye of a youth-team player. Then, Barton was sent home from the club's summer tour of Thailand after a heated exchange with an Everton supporter and his captain, Richard Dunne.

A furious Pearce promptly told him that no further indiscretions would be tolerated and Barton has heeded the warning. He has played a key role in City's renaissance, culminating in the close-range prod that made Alex Ferguson so grumpy on Saturday.

It is this sort of man-management - a combination of irritation and understanding of a youngster's innate exuberance - that has been the most impressive aspect of Pearce's reign at City, and it is also one of the reasons why he is being touted as Eriksson's successor.

But not the only one. Another is attitude. Watching Pearce in the dugout can be exhausting. He doesn't just kick every ball with his players; he leaps into every tackle, heads every cross and contests every decision.

Compare that to Eriksson. The Swede seems to have three touchline poses: mute satisfaction (for winning), deadpan ambivalence (for drawing) and wide-eyed incredulity (for losing).

It does not necessarily tally that the managers who show the greatest emotion achieve the best results - one of the reasons Eriksson was appointed was because of his supposed emotional detachment - but fans appreciate passion. In Belfast, as England's superstars were made to look foolish by Northern Ireland's journeymen, their manager simply stood and stared. Pearce's reaction to such ineptitude can only be imagined.

However, none of this means that the novice should be packing his bag for Soho Square. For one thing, Eriksson will not resign his £4.5-million-a-year post and the FA cannot afford to sack him. The manager's position is safe until either England fail to qualify for the World Cup or they exit Germany 2006.

But it is also too early for Pearce. His dynamic approach was always likely to reap instant rewards at City, a club that had drifted for too long under Keegan, but that does not qualify him for the England job.

A national coach requires intimate knowledge of the vagaries of European football, an ability to coax the best out of his nation's greatest talents, a flair for making a team out of individuals with just a few days' preparation. At present, Pearce has none of these.

What he does have is time. Pearce is still only a young man and has already proved he has learned from tutors such as Brian Clough and Bobby Robson. He remains an England manager in the making, rather than one in waiting.