At the weekend, I was up to my neck in lots of important issues but something caught my attention that made me sit bolt upright; the F.A. were given permission to interview Roy Hodgson for the England job. I have to say that I truly was thrown! Everyone was thrown, football scribes, pundits and fans alike! Let's do my favourite thing and discuss!
On Wednesday 8th February 2012, two very unexpected events took place. Fabio Capello resigned from the post of England Football manager and then later Harry Redknapp was acquitted of tax evasion. I say that both were unexpected because I believed that Fabio desperately wanted to go to the European Championships this summer with the England team and that despite all the posturing, the Revenue had a strong case against Redknapp; but life throws up interesting scenarios, and this was definitely one of them. Suddenly, the media had enough ammunition to create a shoe-in for the big job for 'Arry! An avalanche of stories, insights, phone-ins, tweets, you name it, we were getting bombarded! Throw into the mix that Spurs appeared to be trampling over everything before them with the ferocity of a North Korean army challenging liberal ideals. 'Arry was giving the media great copy, all our favourite rag-tops were in overdrive. All we kept wondering was WHEN he was leaving Spurs. The players themselves started tweeting that Harry was their chosen one and how he could feed not 5,000, not 10,000 but 25,000 perhaps with a bag of stale unleaven bread. The F.A. though calmly released a sombre statement that they would draw up a list of candidates. The usual names, Alan Curbishley, Martin O'Neil, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were asked if they were considering the post. No-one mentioned Hodgson without adding: "Well! you remember what happened at Liverpool!" Even the announcement was greeted with a luke warm response.
Let's talk about Harry Redknapp for a moment. I have noted that none of the senior England players have made any public statements about the appointment because, in short, they know that the machinery involved is none of their business. If managing England was as simple as two or three training sessions, a trip to the West End, a press conference, a communal pre-match meal followed by 90 minutes of following orders and commitment with a few dashes of quality then the job would be Harry Redknapp's all day long. Just as many people mistakenly think that I make a great living by simply putting on smart suits, sitting at a piano and letting the fingers do their magic; there is so much unseen work involved. Harry has worked tirelessly to become a manager of an elite club, namely Spurs, but the job as a national manager is a portfolio that just isn't his. When, during his Southwark Crown Court trial, he revealed, in his evidence, that he could barely write his name, I could hear the tutting of the chattering classes. Although he was acquitted in the tax evasion trial, it would, for me, have been a roulette wheel spin too many to believe, under the ferocious media glare, he would not have compromised the F.A. - although of course the hierarchy would never say it; there are many very good reasons why Brian Clough did not become the England manager back in the 1970s. But we're being sensible AGAIN! Surely the reason so many wanted Harry in the first place, was his ability to get his players excited about doing the basics; winning football matches. Players like Adebayor, Modric and Van der Vaart running through brick walls for the cause is a testament to his man-management skills. There is a real feeling in the football community that the F.A. despite a careful, well thought out game-plan have missed the best opportunity to hire the man who would have truly ignited the summer of 2012.
For those of you who follow the great and beautiful game will know that team England have had a variety of managers since Sir Alf Ramsey. Don Revie, a nearly man who won the Championship with Leeds and then left the country in murky circumstances to follow the money and go East, Ron Greenwood, a West Ham old boy who, for a lack of real self-belief should have taken a great England team further than the quarter-finals in 1982 in Spain. The late Bobby Robson, a great coach and human-being who was so nearly destroyed by the media but was, for me the man that really took football in Britain across the class divide when he took us to the Semi-Finals in 1990. He subsequent achievements in Portugal and Spain spoke volumes about his ability. Graham Taylor was an eloquent and honest coach, and is one of the most insightful analysts currently working in the broadcast media on Radio 5 Live! But, alas he was not good enough at the high table. Terry Venables was a great coach who was a liability for the F.A. due to his business dealings. Then, we had Glen Hoddle, a man who's approach was so riddled with complications that he fell on his sword after a reasonable run. Kevin Keegan was enthusiastic, emotive and fiery but like Garaham Taylor lacked top end execution (remember THAT rant on SKY), Sven Goran-Eriksson for me was a lucky manager whose 'unique life-style' created an unwanted side-show. For Steve McLaren it was sadly all too soon and Fabio, poor chap just found the idiosyncrasies of British life too much to contend with in the end. We as a nation more than any other have tried the darn lot and still not truly succeeded. For all the talk about being like the continentals, we want one of our own. An Englishman, conversant in the tongues of the major playing nations, who truly knows a great many cultures, can stand in front of any crowd of football-loving wild-life and deliver friendly eloquent banter without compromising anyone. But above all else, a man who is happy to report to work on the A50 in Burton-Upon-Trent and oversee the growth of the Centre of Excellence with the elite players of tomorrow. Make today's stars into a stubbornly hard to beat unit. The closest man to all of that is Roy Hodgson. But can he please the mindset of the beer-swilling, flag waving bar-be-que-mad masses during tournament summers despite wearing that cloak of the widely feared aloof Englishman. It feels more like a convenient marriage.
A cursory glance of Mr Hodgson's CV should give great reassurance, but a closer inspection of it bothers me. Despite the eloquent argument above for his ambassadorial credentials, football is like life; it twists and turns on raw emotions, knee-jerk decisions, and a times brave defiance in pursuit of the extra special advantage. It's what makes our game so special. Hodgson has a track record of panicking in the cauldron of high visibility management that was his recent experience at Liverpool. Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and United Arab Emirates' national teams did employ him with great success in terms of collateral progress achieved, similar to his experiences at Fulham and West Bromwich Albion. But, when he managed Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool, both those teams had an expectation of further success and were aiming for a higher sphere, consolidation was a given not an option; Hodgson failed. Inter-Milan, during his reign in the 1990s, were not the super-power that they have now become, but they did have a track record of winning UEFA Cup Finals; losing to Schalke on penalties as he did failed to cement any sort of relationship with the fans who were constantly speculating about his continued employment. I am advised that Paul Ince was his highest profile signing during his tenure. At the age of 64 years old, I am wondering whether this well-travelled student of the beautiful game is bursting to utilise this platform to show the world that his metamorphosis as a complete manager to conquer the world at the highest table is, for all the past lessons learned, now complete.
In conclusion, we have to be brutally honest about the quality of our players and be realistic about our expectations. David Bernstein, for me, has set out a brief and a time-scale and I believe hope that the set-up will be a success. However because of the mess, caused by the race trial involving John Terry and Anton Ferdinand and Capello's subsequent resignation many people have very low expectations and I think that will give Hodgson a better chance to ease into his new role. But, one thing for sure is that we are entering a new phase in the national game and it is to the credit of the F.A. that this appointment has been done some swiftly. I am quietly confident that the England players themselves, who have so much to prove, may surprise us all and create a fuzzy warm pre-Olympic excitement for the nation, let's wait and see.
