FA Zero In On Their Man: Roy Hodgson Set For England

Chris Wright

30th, April 2012

36 Comments

By Chris Wright

Here we are people, a little later than planned but we got here all the same.

Despite the desperate clamour from what appeared to be all quarters for the FA to give their top job to English football’s preeminent trucker tanned chirruping Coken Ey sparrah, it would appear that Roy Hodgson is their first choice to take the England job – so much so, in fact, that they’re interviewing him/have interviewed him at Wembley this very day.

West Brom cleared the way for FA Chairman David Bernstein to carry out preliminary talks with Hodgson on Saturday afternoon and the Baggies manager is believed to have mulled over the option with the FA’s four-man advisory panel (Bernstein, FA general secretary Alex Horne, Sir Trevor Brooking and Club England’s Adrian Bevington) with a decision set to be made ‘in the next 48 hours.’

According to several well-placed sources, Hodgson is likely to be signed up on a long-term basis, i.e, signing up for the next three major tournaments (including Euro 2012) – a contract which will run up to some point shortly before his 69th birthday.

A by-product of Hodgson’s imminent appointment of course will be the cruel overlooking of one Henry James Redknapp – much to the dismay, you’d have to fancy, of vast swathes of the national press if their almost blanket infatuation with him since Capello walked is anything to go by.

“Ha!”

It would appear that Hodgson is set to continue his little knack of landing himself a good job in thankless circumstances. It’s hard to argue that he doesn’t deserve a crack at the England job, though it’s equally easy to forsee it all going pear-shaped through no obvious fault of his own at some point in the probably-not-so-distant future.

Much as he suffered at Liverpool for the largely inescapable fact that he wasn’t Kenny Dalglish, it seems that the baying press hordes may already have an excuse to undermine Roy’s tenure – he ain’t ‘Arry. We’ll have to see how that one pans out.

Whereas had media darling ‘Arry failed to noticeably improve things at International level, the players themselves may have finally been bought before the beak,  if it all goes tits up under Roy then we’ll probably just be treated to yet another entirely disrespectful character assassination by the journalists of this fair, scepter’d isle. Such is the way it tends to work with England.

Speaking of Redknapp, he’s already wished Hodgson well in his new venture, telling anyone who would listen that he ‘doesn’t hold grudges’, that he ‘hopes Roy does well’ – which, more than anything, gives the impression that he obviously thought he was going to be walking into the job when the time came.

Sadly for him, it looks like the FA plumped for the cheaper option. Redknapp would’ve cost somewhere in the region of £10 million to jemmy from Tottenham; Hodgson’s a free agent come June 30th.

Lastly, we sincerely hope that this doesn’t give rise to the same ‘best manager England never had’ garbage that has been used to butter Brian Clough’s parsnips ad infinitum from about 1977 onwards.

Harry just…well…isn’t.

What say you Pies fans? Right choice? Good choice? Couldn’t give a monkey’s? Please keep try and Paul Konchesky jokes to a minimum…

Posted in Euro 2012, International football, Managers

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36 Comments

  1. Kacker says:

    Paul Konchesky.

    Now that we have that out of the way, I would like to say that Roy Hodgson is probably the best English man for the job. There are many better managers out there, but they aren’t English.

    Secondly, I have a feeling this is not going to go well at all. An English manager needs the balls to hold his own in front of the FA as well as command the respect of the brats in the first team, and I don’t think Woy can do either of those things. I would love him to prove me wrong, but I don’t see it happening.

    Thirdly, there was a lot more to Roy getting booed out of Liverpool than simply ‘not being Kenny Dalglish’. He was negative as hell pretty much throughout, and a quick Google search for ‘roy hodgson liverpool quotes’ will display just how great a motivational speaker he was.

  2. muppets says:

    Hodgson has international experience and his teams are well drilled defensively n just what’s needed for knock out tournaments. ultimately the players will probably let him down with poor performances and off-field antics, just as they would redknapp. only difference is woy will be vindecated for it.

  3. snowmanvilla says:

    i think the press unfairly demanded that arry get the job, probably since he was the flavor of the month when capello left (thats not to say that hes not a great manager, which he is). But hodgeson deserves his chance, his cv is exellent, he is very cultured compared with rednapp who has only managed in england. his international record is very good as well and i believe that he was made a scapegoat at liverpool. he needs to clear out the old guard and give youth a chance and build towards the future as quick as possible, but it looks like the press will give him a hard time

  4. Scott says:

    As muppets has alluded to…
    It depends on whether the players decide to give their all for him. I’m thinking they won’t.

  5. JT says:

    Whilst I hope I end up eating my words, this will only end in disaster!

  6. Alex says:

    none of this is relevant until our aging, self obsessed, disrespectful ‘golden generation’ finally retire and we can give a new team a try.

    We can’t expect a bunch of thirtysomethings to compete with the energy and technical skill of germany or spain or france (your germanys, your spains, your frances), when our players weren’t even good enough to get past the quarter finals ten years ago.

    Still, I fully expect Roy to be used as a scapegoat should we fall at the first hurdle.

  7. Mr. Sparkle says:

    All the luck to him, if he had the balls, he’d get rid of all the prima donna stars on the team. Than again the FA has way too much control over what goes.

  8. Rob says:

    I want him to get it just to piss off the English media who thought they could bully the FA into appointing their choice. However, if things don’t start well for the team, Hodgson is going to get some awful treatment from the newspapers because they didn’t get their man. He is a cheaper appointment but I do think that Roy should demand the same paycheck that Capello got.

  9. Luke says:

    We have an issue here with talent and availability, yet the demand heard above all others this time around (apart from a Redknapp coronation – presumably due to his enviably average managerial record) has been for an Englishman. Sadly, as any genuinely inspiring Candidates fitting this requirement have been essentially imaginary, the press anointed Redknapp a demi-God for reasons best known to themselves. The FA chose to go with experience and tenure as well as a knowledge (a very broad knowledge) of international and European football. While I don’t think Hodgson will flourish (‘flourish’ not being a hallmark of his footballing style) due to the fact that I think we simply don’t have the players, I don’t think what is bound to come his way is fair either. I think there was a chance here to make a genuinely brave appointment in Stuart Pearce, an Englishman (that word again) with experience of the under-21 scene – exactly the sort of man we should be appointing on a four-tournament contract. Especially when it is pretty clear that, following the Euro’s, we will be looking for a rebuilding of the team from the ground up.

  10. Ameezy says:

    I think ultimately the difference between Woy’s time at Liverpool and his potential time with England is this: He can pick exactly who he wants, and if they don’t play how he wants, then he can get shut without having them hanging around.

    The bloke has managed across many nations and clubs, with a wealth of experience and knows how to get the best out of mediocre players (which, let’s face it, many England players are).

    The best, most successful tournament managers have the right players in the right positions, not trying to wedge players in because of perceived status in the team.

    I think we should expect a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 system, very organised, defensively tight with little flair but quite compact. Though perhaps different formation-wise, this is exactly how Greece and Italy have won major tournaments in recent years.

    If he wins Euro 2012, what will the press say then?

  11. Mr. T says:

    I dont think he can be criticized for his defensive approach to the game. In his own words (albeit somewhat paraphrased as i’m too lazy to google), “his approach has been successful for many years in many countries for many teams, and to say it suddenly doesnt work is preposterous”. His demise at LFC was partly self engineered. No doubt the fact that Kenny had declared he wanted the job contributed to it, but he openly criticized players, refusing to admit that his tactics might have something to it, and the fact that he bought Poulsen and Konchesky and then actually played them!

    Also, here is hoping he gives the captaincy to Stevie G! :)

  12. Grant says:

    Where is this “‘Arry is a great manager” thing coming from anyway? He’s been in the game for 3 decades, the first of which was in the lower leagues. He’s won exactly one trophy. He’s financially destroyed a club. He’s had one season in the Champions League. He can’t freaking read for Christ’s sake! Just get off of ‘Arry for a few minutes.

  13. lfc_man says:

    Don’t think its the best choice, but I hope he proves me wrong. He cracked under the pressure at Liverpool. He does have success with smaller clubs and countries, but dealing with big egos and the media surrounding big teams are a different challenge. I thought his experience at Inter would serve him well when he became LFC manager, I was wrong. I hope he learnt something from the Liverpool failure, which had to do with the entire club not simply his management. It would leave the FA looking like idiots if he fails, and it will be more years of dreary under-achieving english football. At least ‘Arry would be more entertaining.

  14. plops says:

    Nothing to do with this article but, can we have a forum on here?

  15. Gaudi says:

    Get the Turnips ready….here we go again

  16. Tom says:

    Right man for the job. England need a style, one that suits the culture of football played in the premier league. Look at italy, theyve won everything under the sun, all because they play to their strengths. ‘Arrys reckless attacking football isn’t suited to the players england produce, let alone to a knock out tournament. Expect a well organised 4-4-1-1 which sits deep and is happy to have less possession.

    Remember when we beat Spain? That’s the sort of football we need to play to have a chance of success. Like it or not, hodgson’s brand of football is exactly what we need right now. As long as the players don’t let him down and hes not needlessly demeaned a la Liverpool he might just make the most out of what we’ve got.

  17. Danny says:

    Hodgson is a good, sound, quality manager. Can’t blame him for wanting to try another big job after Liverpool but why England?! It’ll only damage his reputation when the average-to-decent squad flounder in the quarter-finals as per usual

  18. jon says:

    @lfc_man compared to king kenny surely he’s fabulous? £60m spunked on rubbish compared with the 10 or so Roy spent. Liverpool have been vile toxic gashmongers recently and it’s totally unfair to judge him on his performance there.

  19. Papi says:

    I’m not English, so naturally, it’s interesting to see the mixed reactions. I feel sorry for you gents that have to put up with the FA though.

  20. Mike J says:

    @jon no he’s not fabulous compared to Kenny, he’s (slightly) worse. The football under Hodgson was the worst I’ve seen at Liverpool (bar 6 months under Souness in ’93) and he obviously never had the backing of the players. The big issue was that he only ever opened his mouth to put his foot in it.

    Just because Dalglish isn’t the right man for the job doesn’t mean that Hodgson was somehow harshly treated.

    Anyway, compared to Rafa Benitez they’re both wank.

  21. jon says:

    @mike j I wouldn’t say he was great at Liverpool, he obviously wasn’t but considering the fans never gave him a chance it’s hardly a surprise the players didn’t play for him. He couldn’t have ever succeeded. The odious mongs from the Mersey got what they deserved, utter failure.

  22. Hey ma, get off tha dang roof! says:

    The man can speak 5 languages fluently as well as 4 other languages really well. I know that doesn’t necessarily means he deserves the England job, but bloody hell, that’s impressive.

  23. Jarren says:

    Can’t see it making much difference who’s in charge.

    Does England have a team capable of winning the Euros?

    Maybe.

    But let’s be honest, there are a hell of a lot of teams going to Portugal / Ukraine that are at least of equal ability.

    I echo the sentiments that hope Roy doesn’t get assassinated (Graham Taylor style) should England die a death.

    Should England fail to get at least as far as the semis, you can see the media lynching Roy.

    What good would that do?

    If anything, it would put even more prospective candidates off the job.

  24. Jarren says:

    *edit: Poland / Ukraine.

    Well, Portugal’s KINDA close.

  25. dc says:

    According to nearly everyone, Roy has been a fantastic manager at taking below-average teams and making them great….

    England are a below-average team.

    They aren’t Liverpool or Internazionale; they’re a team that hasn’t won anything in a very long time and probably won’t win anything in the near future. ROY IS PERFECT!!!

  26. syndex says:

    Like Roy as the manager, I bet Gerrard is annoyed .

  27. Milkchew says:

    No matter who manages England they will et savaged by the press and the players wont play as they are a bunch of cunts.

    /end

  28. Al says:

    I’m not English so don’t really care but I find it so hard to believe people are being in any way positive about this appointment. People need to stop peddling the line that he has a great CV, he doesn’t. It is patchy at best, add to that the fact that he plays dour unattractive football involving two defensive banks and plenty of long balls then the myth about him being tactically brilliant is also debunked. The FA have once again made an absolute balls of something although that is par for the course with those idiots
    Briefly:
    Success in the Swedish league (hardly the strongest)
    Success with Swiss national team (during a golden period)
    Failure at Inter – 7th place finish
    Failure at Blackburn – sacked with club bottom of league
    Success in Swiss League
    Failure at Udines – sacked
    Failure at Viking – finished 9th (5th year before him)
    Failure at Finland – worse win record of any finland manager
    Ok at Fulham
    Failure at Liverpool
    Ok at West Brom

  29. Jack says:

    @Al You sir, are talking shit.

    He took Halmstad in Sweden from relegation candidates to championship winners on a number of occasions, he also won 5 league titles in a row at Malmo, they offered him a lifetime contract, even naming part of their stadium ‘roys corner’. Not a bad time in Sweden. At Swiss side Xamax he led them to European victories over real madrid and celtic. He then took Switzerland to world cup 1994, the first time they had qualified for a major tournament since 1960. He also took them to euro 96, and left them THIRD in the world rankings. And Inter were going through a significant rebuilding phase during his time there, and had finished 13th and 6th the seasons before he took over.

  30. Jave says:

    Blackburn was a blip that tarnished his career in England. He went to Copenhagen and won the title there. Udinese were near the relegation zone before Hodgson even arrived. Failed at Finland? He left them in the highest fifa ranking in their history, at 33rd. Ok at fulham? relegation candidates to Highest ever place in the prem and a european cup final. Failure at liverpool? Wasnt the best but look at ‘king kennys’ great work. And finally consolidating west brom in the prem beating chelsea, liverpool and wovles 5-1 along the way.
    Yes hes had blips but who hasnt, and when have england played any exiciting football in the last ten years or so? get your facts right before you start shouting your mouth off.

  31. Al says:

    @ Jack and @ Jave – what I wrote is correct and doesn’t contradict any of the statements that either of you have made so not sure how I could “get my facts right” but the bottom line is that he has only had success in very poor leagues, winning 5 Swedish titles in the 1980’s can hardly be considered relevant to getting the England job in the year 2012. I aknowledged that he did well with the Swiss national team so I’m not sure what your point is on that and he didn’t take them to Euro 96 as he jumped ship beforehand to join Inter. As far as exciting football goes then yes England haven’t played any for years so isn’t it time to fix that? Playing boring football hasn’t worked so lets keep trying it and keep failing? Why not give someone the job who has progressive ideas and will try to play better football, even if it fails at least there will be some entertainment along the way

  32. jon says:

    @al ok at fulham. Get your facts right. Any other arguments are devalued by saying that.

    Do the same deconstruction for Arry and see what happens.

  33. Al says:

    @ Jon – he did only do ok at Fulham and on one of the larger budgets of the mid table clubs. Even if I accept that he has done amazingly well at West Brom and Fulham as a few have pointed out, does doing well at mid table premier clubs qualify you to manage the national team? Seems to according to you and I’m not championing Redknapp for the job either but I believe he would have been a better choice than Hodgson, even as I said purely for the excitement factor

  34. jon says:

    You. Are. Wrong. Highest ever league finish and a European cup final on a very tight budget. Making things up like “one of the highest midtable budgets” makes you look even stupider. Who would you rather have?

  35. Al says:

    you.are.missing.the.point. putting full stops like that in sentances makes you look like a 14 year old american girl trying to emphasise a point about Justin Bieber or a twat, you choose. I said he did ok at Fulham which he did, they are a mid table club and he kept them as a mid table club, 7th place finish while never threatening the champions league places and then a 12th place finish, ok so he did good at Fulham.
    I would have done all I could to get Hidink, I don’t subscribe to the idea that the manger has to be English. Hodgson basically lacks authority and this was in full view at his press conference yesterday when saying things about how he would have to get the players onside and prove himself to them. would you see jose, hidink or pep going on like that? no , they would demand that the players impress them, not the other way around

  36. jon says:

    Haha, ok mate. Best ever finish and a European final. Numpty.

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