Hard to say really but one thing's for certain, it's not going to be an easy ride for Roy Hodgson as England manager.
On the one hand, he has the ability to turn an average side into world beaters as witnessed by Switzerland in the early 1990s and Fulham and West Brom more recently. Plus his CV is simply impeccable having coached everything to anything in football and Inter Milan.
On the other hand, the England squad isn't exactly brimming with humble pie and the problem with the national team is the fact that there are too many stars in the squad who are shagged after a full, tiring season of Premier League football. And unlike the Germans and Spaniards who have a substantial spine of their team playing at the same club, i.e. Bayern Munich or Barcelona, a midfield of Gerrard, Parker, Milner, Lampard all come from 4 different clubs. Where's the continuity in that?
And Hodgson's problem at Liverpool was the fact that there were too many "stars" at the club that he couldn't quite deal with - amongst other factors.
So at the moment, the jury is 50-50 on Woy. For now though, I'll be sticking to my guns and banking the Germans to finally end their tournament winning drought after coming so close so many times in recent years.
For my money, this was a case of the FA wanting 'the right sort' and not someone who could potentially cause them problems in the media...such as Harry Redknapp.
It's the same selfish politics that prevented Clough being manager of England.
For my money, this was a case of the FA wanting 'the right sort' and not someone who could potentially cause them problems in the media...such as Harry Redknapp.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same selfish politics that prevented Clough being manager of England.