On Tuesday the FA took to a Wembley Stadium press conference to announce Roy Hodgson as the next England manager. A hugely successful coach with a wealth of experience, Hodgson will find the poisoned chalice that is the England job unlike anything he has ever had to contend with before.
The former Fulham and Liverpool manager will complete the season with West Brom before taking the reins of the national team for this summer’s European Championships and beyond, having signed a four year deal. It came as a shock to seemingly everyone to see Hodgson given the nod over bookies favourite Harry Redknapp, but maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised.
One thing that Hodgson does have is managerial experience at International level, and he has it in abundance. Main rival for the job Redknapp cannot compete with this. Hodgson’s first taste of international football came as manager of Switzerland, taking the un-fancied Swiss to the 1994 World Cup. Their first since 1966. At their peak under Hodgson Switzerland were ranked 3rd in the world.
A spell in charge of the United Arab Emirates in 2002 was followed by Hodgson taking charge of Finland in 2006. The Fins narrowly missed out on qualification to Euro 2008 under Hodgson. Despite having never qualified for a major tournament before they missed out by just 3 points this time around. Hodgson does have an impressive international CV but his work at club level is also to be respected.
Hodgson took charge of Malmo FF in 1985 where he won five consecutive Swedish league championships, a host of cup competitions and was even offered a contract for life. Not many managers can boast that kind of job security. He later managed Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax to European victories over Celtic and Real Madrid, not to mention two spells in charge of Italian giants Inter Milan.
Since returning to England in 2007 with Fulham, Roy’s stock has continued to rise. He guided Fulham to the Europa League final and 7th in the Premier League. A less successful period at Liverpool followed, but it could easily be argued that Hodgson was not given time to stamp his authority on the team (he was forced out after just 6 months) and that the Merseyside club have not fared any better since his departure. He was quickly snapped up by West Brom, whom he guided to their highest league finish in over 30 years. With his reputation intact once again, England came calling.
But like McLaren, Capello, Keegan and the many others that came (and faltered) before him, Hodgson may be facing a losing battle already. His grace period as England manager won’t last long, especially with the pressure that faces him in just over a months’ time at the Euro’s.
Some of the press are already criticising the appointment before the England team have kicked a ball in training, much less a match. I don’t know of any other side in football that is trophy-less since the 60’s yet still met with this much expectation. Make no mistake about it, for whatever reason, we are convinced that England should be winning every game they play.
Baring the unthinkable (winning the Euro’s – it’s a long shot at best), it’s hard to see what Roy can do to silence the doubters. And his biggest obstacle may be completely out of his control.
Hodgson was undermined early on in his Liverpool career with Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish working at the clubs Youth Academy, waiting in the wings. The Kop weren’t happy with what they were seeing and they had a ready made replacement already at the club. A man who was already hero worshipped by the Liverpool faithful. It made Hodgson’s position untenable.
With that in mind, how long will it take the fans, press and maybe even the players to say ‘Why didn’t we appoint Harry Redknapp?’
-‘Everyone knows it should have been Harry’.
-‘We said we wanted Redknapp from the beginning’.
Redknapp received unprecedented support from fans, players and yes, even the press, when he was first linked with the England job. Upon Hodgson’s appointment the silence of the senior players has been deafening in its own way. The Rio’s, the Rooney’s, the same players who vocally supported Redknapp are noisy no more. Undermined on his first day. No way to begin football’s most difficult job.
Roy Hodgson is the best man for the England job. His CV at club and more importantly at international level is unrivalled by any other Englishman. And we did say this one had to be English, didn’t we. When the FA sat down to draw up a list of suitable candidates for the job, they must have left with a piece of paper that read:
Roy Hodgson
Sir Stanley Matthews
Not a whole lot to choose from.
So let’s get behind Roy, give him the benefit of the doubt. At least wait until after the Euro’s before we label him a failure like we did all those that came before him.
Will Roy Hodgson bring silverware back to the England team? Almost certainly not. Will he come as close as anyone possibly could? Absolutely.