The Football.....

[Smokin Joe]

he's one of the KISS school, he's coached Internazionale, Switzerland and Finland successfully, and he can pick the team - which he couldn't at Liverpool. We could do worse than somebody who says 'do this, do that' and doesn't pick Stephen Gerrard.

I doubt he could handle either the press or the egos in the England squad. That is a job where you need either charisma (Redknapp) or a thug (Fergie).

 

[on the road]

It will be ironic if Hodgson gets the England job

 

[musa]

Hodgson got nowt to lose IMHO he's struggling with west brom. Maybe warnock or Bruce to manage west brom.

 

[dellzeqq]

I doubt he could handle either the press or the egos in the England squad. That is a job where you need either charisma (Redknapp) or a thug (Fergie).

I don't know that he cares much for either - or, perhaps it's the case that he can take or leave both.

As I understand it Redknapp doesn't coach. He makes players feel good about themselves, and leaves the training ground to Joe Jordan. Hodgson drills - and that's where he came unstuck at Liverpool, coming up against a team captain that has been described as the least astute on the planet. The players simply woudn't do as they were told, and 'King Kenny' in the background didn't make life easier. Cue departure to WBA, cue King Kenny transfer spree, cue league positions that must strike the most ardent Liverpool fan cause for thought.....

At England he can simply turn round and say 'do it my way or not at all'. I suspect Gerrard won't get a mention. He'll have a pool of players who are not, let's be honest, the greatest, and he may just do what he did at Internazionale, which is to decently well with not very much. And that, surely, is the best we can hope for.

 

[MarkF]

Hodgson got nowt to lose IMHO he's struggling with west brom. Maybe warnock or Bruce to manage west brom.

Struggling? They are10th and that is a very good position for WBA to be in at the season end.

I am not too bothered (I am Irish) but to me, choosing Hodgson over Redknapp seems entirely sensible. It was a mad, media driven, populist and lemming-like rush for Harry that makes a logical decision unacceptable to the lemmings. Good luck to him, he's going to need it.

 

[Noodley]

TBH

Is he the next Chelsea manager?

 

[dellzeqq]

And....forgive this lapse in to old-fashionedness....isn't it nice to have an England manager who isn't going to do it for the money? Who wants to manage England? Who sees it as the pinnacle of his career? And, a man who is refreshingly honest, both about his players and himself.....

(I accept that Redknapp's motivations were similarly noble)

 

[MarkF]

A quick look at the stats shows that Harry has managed (and never strayed) from London and along the south coast. After 1271 games with only 6 clubs he's got a win ratio of 40%, that's good.

Roy has managed 15 clubs in 7 different countries and managed 3 nations. In 948 game he has a win ration of 43%, that is spectacularly good.

Harry cannot spell and doesn't read.

Roy speaks fluent Norwegian, Swedish, Japanese, German and Italian, as well as some Korean, Danish, French and Finnish.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Roy speaks fluent Norwegian, Swedish, Japanese, German and Italian, as well as some Korean, Danish, French and Finnish.

But evidently not Scouse. His troubled stay at LFC was a big setback for him and it might be the only thing that people will remember about him when the pressure mounts (and it will...).

 

[ceepeebee]

Stupid, isn't it?

Pick a man with a moderate success record in coaching moderate teams

surely this makes him the ideal man? - maybe England will get to the semis this time rather than bombing out in the quarters? Doubt it tbh.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

At England he can simply turn round and say 'do it my way or not at all'. I suspect Gerrard won't get a mention. He'll have a pool of players who are not, let's be honest, the greatest, and he may just do what he did at Internazionale, which is to decently well with not very much. And that, surely, is the best we can hope for.

But he can't. The players have such huge ego's, such an overblown sense of their own talent and ability, and, and this is the killer, so many influential supporters in the popular media that the moment any manager says 'my way or the highway' it is the manager who gets hounded not the overpaid under achieving playboy he has tried to drop.

The dynamics of the game are askew when "having the confidence of the dressing room" and/or "having the confidence of the senior players" are seen as key qualities in a manager who ought to be applying some form of JFDI to his troops surely?

 

[dellzeqq]

I take your point, but we're at a peculiar stage in our game. We have, possibly, only two star players - Rooney (who Shevchenko describes as the most complete player in the world, but more on that later) and Hart. The rest, including the big egos, are, not exactly disposable, but, then again, not exactly automatic picks.

Take the defence. Terry is getting on - and this is his last chance for a World Cup. Ditto Cole. Ferdinand, whatever his faults, is a team player. Lescott, Richards, Cahill and Kyle Walker will be desperate to get in to the side.

Then there's the midfield. I presume Wilshere is out. Lampard and Parker could play, but they're not essential - and I think Parker would be picked to do the job he does, in any case. Walcott and Lennon can't be faulted for application, and seem refreshingly free of ego. Rodwell likewise.

Up front it's Rooney, who, these days, is really a kind of advanced midfielder, and pick one or two from Defoe, Crouch, Bent and Sturridge.

Now that's not the kind of team that quickens the blood. If Rooney is unable to play (he's out of the first two games) or is out of sorts we're not going anywhere anyway. But plenty of managers have come in, had a clear-out (Klinsmann, Blanc) and got decent results - and, to reiterate, decent results are the best we can hope for. Spain and Germany are better than England.

 

[ceepeebee]

I take your point, but we're at a peculiar stage in our game. We have, possibly, only two star players - Rooney (who Shevchenko describes as the most complete player in the world, but more on that later) and Hart. The rest, including the big egos, are, not exactly disposable, but, then again, not exactly automatic picks.

This was mentioned on the (excellent) Football Ramble podcast last week - apparently Shevchenko said that Rooney was about the only player around at the moment that Lobanovski would have made an immediate starter in one of his teams. This along with the quote from Arrigo Sacchi that some players have all the skills, but just can't play football - a veiled reference to Gerrard, which I agree with to a certain extent these days, he's done some amazing things for Liverpool, but *that* Hollywood, raking crossfield ball is only about 5% effective let's face it.

Oh, and no place for diving's Ashley Young in your team? He could be the new Michael Owen (ie winning very important penalties)

 

[RedRider]

He's at least cultivated a good relationship with the press over the years and hacks invested their own reputation in finding excuses for his Liverpool debacle. His good friend Alex Ferguson will say nice things about him if things get rough. In practice this means he probably won't be photoshopped into a root vegetable.

 

[ceepeebee]

Actually - that Rooney discussion may have been Jonathon Wilson on the Graun's (also excellent) football weekly extraaaaaa podcast