I am the highest paid manager in the world

BUT STEPHEN HASN’T REACHED HIS PEAK

Stephen Constantine is the unknown Londoner who holds the highest position in world football.

While the FA stage an increasingly desperate hunt for a new England boss, he is a roaring success in international management.

Constantine, 38, is a hero in the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal - home to Mount Everest.

His house in the capital Kathmandu is 15,000ft above sea level, so he can outdo the likes of Fergie, Wenger and Houllier by truthfully saying he is the highest paid boss in the world!

When Constantine took over the national team in the summer of 1999, Nepal had won just twice in five years.

Yet, within weeks, the Englishman led them to the final of the South Asian Games - Nepal’s greatest sporting feat. The entire nation went football mad and Sherpas on Everest went on strike , refusing to guide anyone to the world’s highest peak until Nepal had been knocked out.

Even members of the Royal family - virtual recluses with a god-like aura - turned up at the National Stadium to watch.

Constantine said: “When I arrived the national team was in shambles, like something off Hackney Marshes.

“ There was no physio or doctor and they did  not have  proper kits or facilities. They lived on rice and lentils. I changed their diet. Now the players eat pasta and meat - even buffalo curry.

“ They also started training harder twice a day and results soon improved. I also insisted they set up a national league.

“Even though we hosted the SAF Games last year, we were not expected to get very far.

“ Our 3-1 win over Pakistan was sensational upset, then we went on to beat the Maldives in the semi - finals and the Crown Prince turned up at the match - almost unheard of.

“We lost 1-0 to Bangladesh in the final and we’re still only ranked 136th in the world, so we are not excepting to qualify for the World Cup finals, but the national team is a source of pride now. I have been on the pitch in Kathmandu with fans standing six deep around the touch line.

“ I have had to clear them out of the way just so I could see. The Nepalese are a peaceful people, some Buddhist, and some Hindu, but they were all fighting each other to get into the ground during the SAF Games.

“That kind nature can be a problem on the field through. I am always encouraging them to be more nasty. ”

Constantine received Nepal's equivalent of the M.B.E. from the King last year and regularly wears Nepal's national dress to inspire the troops.

Despite his heroic status in the remote nation wedged between India and China, Constantine is still "Stephen who?" in his homeland.

He was on the books at Chelsea and Millwall as a kid and played semi-pro football in the USA and Cyprus before injury ended his career a decade ago. 

After managing clubs in the United States and Cyprus and becoming a fully qualified coach, he became a known to FA an chief, who recommended him to Nepal. Constantine has applied for the mangers job at Oxford, Plymouth and Huddersfield but doesn’t expect to get a single interview.

He said: “ I have been amazed at all the people ruling themselves out of the England job.

“ There are so few quality candidates because we don’t take coaching seriously. There is " jobs-for-the-boys" attitude, which insists managers have to have been high- profile players.

“ Sure, I would  like to manage a club in England, but I know I am more likely to find that kind of work in Japan or China."

Constantine is gearing up for Nepal's World Cup qualifying campaign. He said: “ The average of my squad is 5"4' and they are of a small build, but playing at such a high altitude, we have to be the fittest team in our region. If England came to Kathmandu , we’d give them a decent game.”

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