Stuart Pearce admits you might have to be a bit "mad" to take on the England job, but it remains an eventual target for the Under-21s coach.
The Football Association's director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking suggested this week that Steve McClaren - axed after the failure to reach Euro 2008 - "will be in the frame again" with England if he continues to impress at German side Wolfsburg following a successful spell in charge of FC Twente.
Pearce, 48, is likely to be another contender thanks to his successful spell with the Under-21s, who face Romania at Carrow Road on Friday night in the first leg of their European Championship play-off.
And after working closely with Capello and the senior side, the former Nottingham Forest and England defender knows full well what would come with the territory if he ever took the top job.
"Some people would say you would be mad to want to be," Pearce said. "If you ask me, I haven't got the experience today. When will I have it? I don't know.
"The trouble with football is it is very difficult to plan ahead, you never know what is around the corner. Many managers are being lauded one month and written off the next, it is quite incredible.
"All I know is I enjoy the job I do at the moment, think I am getting more experienced, and think I will be better at the job tomorrow than I am today. That is all I can really do."
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has also been included in the senior England group, which gathered this evening for the Euro 2012 qualifying tie against Montenegro at Wembley on Tuesday minus Gareth Barry.
Barry has been given additional time at home due to personal issues but the FA hope the Manchester City midfielder will be able to join the squad at some stage during the build up to the game.
Pearce maintains whatever outcome will be done for the "advancement of the player".
Much has been made about Wilshere's progress this season, having returned ready for the challenge of regular Premier League action with the Gunners following a successful loan spell at Bolton.
And Pearce knows it is sometimes difficult to keep things in perspective.
"I look at headlines and watch TV about players and they near enough miss out the Under-21s. They say 'He should be a senior player'," said Pearce, who left Wilshere on the bench for the recent qualifier away to Portugal after the teenager was involved in a late-night fracas in Kensington.
"But these are statements made by people who don't watch the kids every week, don't have to pick up the pieces when their form drops a little bit.
"I would like to think that someone like myself, who does the job that I am involved in and certainly has got an eye on all the younger age groups, we look and think about where the player's best development is suited for the player, not for me, not for anybody else and sometimes maybe not for the clubs, but for the players themselves."
Pearce maintains there are plenty of reasons to believe England's latest crop of talent can follow in the footsteps of James Milner, Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson to make an impact within the senior side.
"You are looking for me to say 'It's all fantastic' or 'It's all doom and gloom', but we are somewhere in between," he said. "You can never have enough coming through.
"We have got a reasonably talented bunch, but you still want better players and more players coming through, and more players playing regularly in the league.
"We have to nurture what we have got and try and improve what we have got coming through from grass-roots level."
