Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said that managing the England national soccer team is the worst job in football and even though he was linked with it because of his success, he would never opt for it being a ''nightmare''.

According to the Daily Star, Ferguson clearly has sympathy for Roy Hodgson, who has suffered a roller-coaster week as England boss.

The joy of qualifying for the World Cup was followed by inadvertently being dragged into a racism row involving Andros Townsend after a dressing room comment on ''feeding the monkey'', the report said.

The former United manager, who this week launches his autobiography following his retirement from management said that he did not think the manager's job with England was a good one, adding that he thought it was a horrible job.

Image: Alex Ferguson and Roy Hodgson

Photograph: Martin Rose/Getty Images