Paul Lambert insists there can only be one boss in the wake of Fabio Capello's high profile England exit.

The Scot admitted yesterday he had sympathy for Capello, who quit after outspoken criticism of the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy ahead of his court case over allegations of racial abuse towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. Lambert believes questioning a manager's authority is a recipe for disaster.

'I was as surprised as everybody else that he resigned,' he said. 'I think he had earned the right to take them into the European Championships as he had got the team there. I don't know the ins and outs of it, but if you are not making the decision about who your captain is then that becomes a major issue. The manager of the football team should be left alone to make the decisions. What is the point of having a manager otherwise? He should be the one who dictates who is the captain, who isn't the captain, who plays, who doesn't, all that sort of thing. That is kind of where it has fallen down.'

Lambert added his voice to the growing clamour for Tottenham's Harry Redknapp to succeed the Italian.

'He is the best out there,' he said. 'It is a fabulous achievement what he has done with Tottenham and before that coming up at West Ham, Portsmouth, Bournemouth. I have had a few dealings with him and I think he would be brilliant for the country because everybody loves him and that is half the battle. I think he knows how to man-manage people and get the best out of them. There are a million and one people who have said that before me. I never worked under him as a player, but looking at it, he seems to be a man you would want to play for. If you are asking me, he is certainly the one who is the best candidate.'

Redknapp himself has already ruled out the prospect of doubling up alongside his role at White Hart Lane and Lambert believes the demands of Premier League management make that a tall order.

'I'm not sure. That is a hard one to judge, to do the two jobs at virtually the same time. He'll know himself. He is a really top manager. Only Harry would know that himself,' he said. 'He has been at it for years. Every club that he has been at, he seems to have turned it around.'