Lord Triesman has backed Sir Trevor Brooking to take over as Football Association chairman, although he feels whoever takes on the role could be on a hiding to nothing.
Triesman became the FA's first independent chairman back in 2008 before handing over to David Bernstein two years later, with Bernstein's successor Greg Dyke set to step down in the summer.
Brooking has a long history with the FA, having joined the body in 2004 as director of football development and being involved in the selection process that ended with Steve McClaren being appointed as England manager.
And Triesman feels he would be the ideal man to take over from Dyke, who is not seeking re-election at the end of his three-year term in charge, even though he admits reform within the FA is something that is tough to achieve.
Triesman told Sky Sports News HQ: "Trevor is unafraid when he says things and that is important. He is absolutely driven by wanting to see first class and modern coaching, wanting to see youngsters come through.
"He would probably focus on that to pretty much the exclusion of anything else and that may very well be the single thing that would be most worth doing.
"I think he could make some dents in that body work."
Triesman says whoever takes on the job will know how tough it can be - he likened it to 'rolling rocks up a hill' and said proper reform could be almost impossible, as Dyke has found out.
He added: "Greg is a man who uses his time wisely, and if he is doing something he will do it very forcefully. But he will want to know the effort he is putting in is making some kind of an impact.
"I think that anybody who has been in that position at the FA, as an independent chairman, will know that it is a body that simply does not reform, and there is a point at which you feel like you are rolling rocks up a hill only for them to roll back down again.
"The power of the Premier League is absolutely enormous, supreme in English football. That leaves the FA with a very much more marginal role, including in the regulation of the game."