Richards had a successful spell as coach of Leicester

The England international says the Harlequins boss, who guided Leicester to two European and four Premiership titles, should become team manager.

"With his record he is probably the best guy," Catt told BBC London. "He did an exceptional job at Leicester.

"I would let Brian Ashton and the other coaches run the on-field stuff and let Dean manage off-the-field matters."

Interview: England international Mike Catt

Richards, 43, won 48 caps for England, six Lions caps as well as making 314 appearances for Leicester.

The number eight moved into management at Welford Road and led Leicester to four consecutive domestic league titles (1999-2002) as well to back-to-back victories in the Heineken Cup (2001 and 2002).

Dean has a strong vision of where he would like to take the team Former England coach Jeff Probyn

But after 23 years as a player and coach, Richards was sacked in February 2004 after a dip in results.

He moved to French side Grenoble for a season before joining Harlequins in 2005 following their relegation to Division One and guided them back to the Premiership in his first season.

And former England prop Jeff Probyn says Richards is the ideal man for the job.

"England need a manager, not a head coach," said Probyn. "The argument is what is a head coach? It was a title invented by Sir Clive Woodward who never really coached anyone.

"Dean Richards should be appointed England manager.

"For the England team you want the best man for the job and that's Dean. He has a proven track record of working with John Wells (England forwards coach).

"Dean has a strong vision of where he would like to take the team.

"He's respected by all the players, all of the management and clubs and wants what's best for England."

Richards, along with former England skipper Martin Johnson, New Zealander Warren Gatland and South African Nick Mallett, have all been linked with the role following Robinson's departure on Wednesday.

606 DEBATE: Do you agree with Catt?

But Catt, who is in England's Elite Player Squad and toured Australia in the summer, says the new man must English.

"I would not like to see a foreigner come in," he added.

"Warren Gatland is a fantastic coach and has done fantastic things with Wasps but I do believe England have good enough managers and coaches to stick to their own.

"They don't need outside influences."

And Catt, currently playing some of his best rugby with London Irish, says that the Rugby Football Union should utilise the knowledge and experience of England's World Cup winning squad.

"There is a lot of experience and talent that has come through England ranks that has not been tapped into yet," he said.

Catt plays down World Cup hopes

"They do need to get some players involved although I am not sure how they would go about doing that.

"People like Matt Dawson, Will Greenwood and myself were all very good players but what are we like coaching?

"We don't know that until we have experienced it.