So, the FA have approached Roy Hodgson with a view to being the next England manager.
You may remember my previous article which was rather scathing of our chances in the upcoming European Championships, dismissing England as a perennial quarter final team.
If Hodgson accepts, and is given enough time to formulate a squad, I can see myself eating my words.
While I still don’t think we’ll win the whole thing, appointing Hodgson is a step in the right direction for the Three Lions and, in my opinion, a better option than the popular choice of Harry Redknapp for reasons I’ll explain.
First and foremost, I don’t think there’s a more intelligent manager in world football, let alone in England, he is fluent in five different languages for a start. You can’t say that about a lot of people in football.
Hodgson also has a wealth of experience in management, having managed 18 different sides which included two spells at Inter Milan and while he has never really set the world on fire, it’s hard to say he failed miserably at any of them, apart from possibly Liverpool where a lot of the problems were above his head.
Woy has also had 3 stints in charge of national sides being Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and Finland respectively and while none of these are anywhere near to the prestige of the England job it’s still refreshing to see the FA finally go for someone who has already cut his teeth on the national front. Far too often have the FA appointed a completely untried national manager, you only have to look back as far as the last manager in Fabio Capello, or Sven Goran-Eriksson. While these managers never did horrendously whilst stewarding our country’s side, there were some high profile gaffes made by them which could be put down to inexperience on the national stage.
It’s also nice to see an English man being approached ahead of other candidates, for too long have we, as a footballing nation, been managed by foreigners who, good managers though they may be, don’t have the same passion for the team as a compatriot would.
While I’m fairly pleased about the job being offered to Hodgson, it does present a fair risk for the FA, although they’ve hardly shied away from big calls over the past few years, hiring Capello when he couldn’t speak English and sacking said manager after a disagreement.
As a manager, should he accept it, the England job will be the most high profile one of his long and distinguished career and it remains to be seen whether this will sit well with him. Certainly at his last high profile job, Liverpool, things did not go well, having not bought well at all; Christian Poulsen and Paul Konchesky come to mind. It might benefit Hodgson though, not being able to buy and sell players, as his tactical mind is one of the best in the business, and if he can channel that only, then it can only be positive.
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